Thank you so much. Brother Scott Richardson often
said, especially, I remember it in his older years, there's
been no bad news since I got the good news. My Jesus has done
all things well. Open your Bibles this evening,
if you will, to 1 John chapter 2. First John Chapter 2. The title of my message is God's
Little Children. God's Little Children. I don't know of any little child
that likes to be referred to as a little child. I never saw
one yet who wanted to be referred to as a little child. Little
boys want to be treated like young men. Young men who are
still little boys want to be treated like men, spoken to like
men. Nobody wants to be considered
a little child. But all who are in God's kingdom
are God's little children. God's little children. Here in this passage in 1 John
2, verses 11 through 14, the apostle is inspired by God the
Holy Spirit to give us another sweet and blessed word of comfort
as God's elect. Now remember John's purpose throughout
this epistle. These five chapters are written
by God's servant, John, under the inspiration of God the Holy
Spirit, to give comfort, assurance and joy to God's people in this
world, in the midst of your trials and your heartaches, in the midst
of your failures, your faults, your falls and your sins, to
give comfort, peace, joy and assurance to God's saints. Oh,
but Brother Don, you don't you just don't do things that way.
That's just not the way you do things. If you give people comfort
and peace and joy in the midst of their failures and their faults
and their falls and their sins, then there's no way to govern
their lives. That is not the way the scriptures
teach. That's the way religion teaches.
That's the way man's philosophy teaches. The scriptures teach
just the opposite. The more you know of God's goodness
and grace to you, when you least deserve it, when you most fully
deserve His judgment and His wrath, the more inclined you
are to devote yourself to Him, to walk with Him, to believe
Him, and to honor Him. John's purpose then is to give
us comfort. joy, peace, and assurance. To teach us that as surely as
we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, as surely as we confess
our sins to Him, as surely as God sits on His throne in heaven,
we who are gods have every reason to rejoice before Him as we walk
through this world. 1 John 2, verse 12. I write unto you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because
you have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you,
young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto
you, little children, because ye have known the father. I have
written unto you fathers because ye have known him that is from
the beginning. I have written unto you young
men because ye are strong and the word of God abideth in you
and ye have overcome the wicked one. Five times in this one chapter
the Apostle John is inspired by God the Holy Spirit to refer
to God's people in this world as little children. In verses
1, 12, 13, 18, and 28, all five of those verses,
John refers to us as little children. But as is often the case in our
English translation, you have one English word that is translated
from one or from two or more Greek words. Here, John uses
two very distinct words to speak of us as little children. Two
words that mean completely different things, not opposing things,
but completely different things. The word that is translated little
children in verses 1, 12, and 28 means offspring or a young
child. It's commonly used in the New
Testament to refer to a disciple, one who is a follower of a teacher,
a follower of the Lord, a follower of one of the apostles, a follower,
a disciple, offspring, a young child. But the word that is used
in verses 13 and 18, translated little children, refers to infants,
babies you carry in your arms. Little children. Little children. I am Don or Claude Fortner's
son. I'm his child. I'm his child. But no one has for a long time
referred to me as his little child. Been a long time since
I've had that term referred to me. I'm his child. When I was
a young man, just a baby, I was his child. But then I was indeed
a little child. I had to be carried from place
to place, fed by someone else, taken care of altogether by someone
else. And that's just the distinction
John uses here. He refers to God's people as
those who are God's offspring, who are followers of God as he
makes himself known in his word, who are also little children
who must be carried about by another, cared for, tended, fed,
and protected by the work of another altogether. So John is
telling us that all God's children are disciples, followers of God,
And all are babes in grace, infants in Christ Jesus, constantly needing
nourishment, protection, and tender care. And yet, these spiritual
infants among God's little children are wise fathers, strong young
men, and needy babies. these things are true of all
of us at some time and all these things are true of each of us
at any given time and yet these three terms fathers young men
and little children refer to God's people in various circumstances
and degrees of growth and knowledge in the Lord Jesus Christ, so
that there is a distinction made between individuals. And yet
the distinction is not so clear as you might think it to be.
Let's look at the passage together. John speaks to us here of God's
little children. They call some of us fathers,
some young men, some little children. Those are family terms. God's church is his family. God's
church is his family. The family whose names are written
in heaven. Our Lord Jesus on one occasion
was ministering to his disciples in Matthew chapter 12 and again
It's recorded in Mark chapter 3 I think and they came and said
your mother's looking for you He said behold my mother and
my brother and my sister behold. This is my family. This is my
family God's family is real God's family is lasting. God's family
is permanent. Our earthly families may not
be. There are those in our earthly
families who do not know our God, are not washed in the Redeemer's
blood, are not born of God. And when this earthly existence
is ended, that relationship's over. But not this one. Don,
we're brethren forever. We're brethren forever. We're
united to one another forever, as we are united to Christ forever. Members of his flesh and of his
bones, one body with the Lord Jesus. And this takes in all
God's elect. God's church, God's family, God's
kingdom is one. It is one. All who are chosen
of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, born of God's Spirit,
all who believe on the Lord Jesus, those who just now begin to believe,
and those who have believed for a long time, all of us are God's
family, God's church, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ.
elect so that God's church is one in the Old Testament and
in the new in Danville Kentucky and in Lexington Kentucky and
in Africa wherever you find God's people they are one body in the
Lord Jesus Let's understand that. Let's understand that. Yes, the
local church, this body of believers here functions as a independent
local assembly of believers committed to Christ. But this local assembly
is not all there is to God's church. God's church encompasses
all who are born of God, all who are taught by the spirit
of God. So when our Lord says, behold, my mother and my brethren,
He's telling us we ought to look upon our fellow believers as
our family and treat them as such. We have God as our father,
Christ as our elder brother, God the Holy Spirit as our teacher,
our comforter, our sanctifier, and heaven as our eternal inheritance. All God's elect are one, and
yet in this one family, There are distinctions that must be
recognized. Distinctions in experience, in
knowledge, in gifts, in maturity, not distinctions in worth, not
distinctions in value, not distinctions in degrees of acceptance, not
distinction in degrees of righteousness, not distinctions in degrees of
love, not distinctions in degrees of appreciation. distinctions
in experience, distinctions in growth, distinctions in knowledge
as God gives to each one his gifts as he will. He divides his gifts distinctly
to every man severally as he will. That means. If God gives
you gifts of understanding in his word. And your brother or your sister
lacks that same quick understanding. It has nothing to do with your
intelligence, your smarts, your study, or your training. It's
God's gift. It's God's gift. It's God's gift. I know some very, very brilliant
men and very, very brilliant women, well-trained academics,
highly trained academics, some of the most brilliant folks I've
ever known, who are born of God, who believe on the Lord Jesus,
but they seem to need constantly, constantly to be retaught very
foundation principles that others who just, you know, hardly have
anything like what you would call brilliant minds read the
Word of God, they hear the gospel, and they got it. They got it.
How can that be? How can that be? Because flesh
and blood doesn't give you these things. Flesh and blood doesn't
teach you these things. The knowledge of Christ and the
knowledge of his word and the knowledge of his will are gifts
of God. They're gifts of God. So let's
not ever get the idea somehow of superiority. Now preacher,
I'm talking to myself. I sometimes get aggravated when
people should have And should have learned and I get a little
annoyed when I'm asked the same question by the same fellow over
and over and over again God forgive me and you please do the same
Because my understanding whatever I have of anything is God's gift
It is not to be attributed to me and certainly not to be attributed
to me by me That's the height of pride and arrogance on my
part. God forgive me Our Lord in his
parable talks about those who bring forth fruit, some 30, some
60, and some 100 fold. All of them receiving the seed
in good ground. The fruit is the same in nature, but not the
same in abundance. The fruit is brought forth by
the gift of God the Spirit. Peter was admonished to feed
Christ's sheep. and he was admonished to feed
his lambs. The Apostle Paul speaks of those who are weak and those
who are strong. Some need meat. Others must be
fed with milk. Both are to be fed as babes in
God's family by those who tend his people. But they are all
alike children and all alike dear to God. all alike his children, all alike
dear to God. What's the age range of your
children? You're sitting right here. And the youngest one just as
dear as the oldest. And the oldest just as dear as
the youngest. Oh, but man, I depend on Tim. I depend on Dave. I depend
on Elizabeth. They're grown. These others,
you know, they have to be, got to take care of them all the
time. Does that make one less dear than the other? Oh, no. Oh, no. In fact, in fact, you older children
kind of forget I said this. Now, if you can, when they need
you most, they're the dearest. What mother doesn't sort of wish
her baby hadn't grown up quite so fast? sort of wish they needed
their attention a little more. You see, God gives his gifts
to his people as he will for their benefit in their place
in his kingdom for his glory and their benefit and the benefit
of all the rest of his children. But as he does, he does it because
of their dearness to him. and the weakest, the most shaky, the most fearful, is just as
dear to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as the strongest,
the firmest, and the most knowledgeable. Oh, God teaches. If you don't
get anything else out of this, will you get that? Will you get
that? God's people are dear to him,
dear to him. And they have their experiences
in this world of his grace as they are the objects of his everlasting
love in Christ the Redeemer, exactly as God has purposed,
as he will. The fact is believers may at
the same time be both young and old, weak and strong. Well, brother Don, that's a contradiction.
That can't be. Let's see. A man may be weak
in knowledge and strong in zeal, weak in faith and temperate in
behavior. The Corinthians were strong in
understanding. They were strong and understanding.
Paul said, you understand things as well as anybody. You have
great knowledge, but they were babes in behavior. He said, I
have to write to you as unto Carl. When I take out my pen
to write to you, to teach you, I've got to talk to you like
I'd talk to a little baby sitting on my knee. Turn back to 1 Corinthians
3. Let me show you. 1 Corinthians
3. Our brethren could not speak
unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto
babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with
meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it. Neither yet
now are you able, for you're yet carnal. For whereas there
is among you envying and strife and divisions, are you not carnal
and walk as men? These Corinthians, had undergone a mighty change
by the grace of God. But in some respects, they still
behaved like babies. In some respects, they were yet
carnal, just acted like they were all flesh. You have an example of the same
thing in Solomon. He was a man of great wisdom.
Allen, he was the wisest man who had ever lived. He had wisdom,
not just carnal wisdom, spiritual wisdom. He wrote the Song of
Solomon. He wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes.
He wrote the Proverbs of Solomon. This man had tremendous wisdom.
He was given great gifts. And yet, he was one of the weakest men
spoken of in this book. one of the weakest men spoken
of in his book, strong and weak. His wives led him to worship
false gods. And he gave in to them because
of his own lust. There's also a great difference
at various times in our own experiences so that at one time we're on
the mountaintop rejoicing. And before we can turn around,
We're in the deep, dark valley, languishing. At one time, we're
walking confidently with God. At another time, we're on the
storm-tossed sea, crying, Lord, carest thou not that we perish.
At one time, we would take out a sword and defend our master's
honor at the hazard of our lives. And at another time, We would
tremble before a little girl and cuss and deny. Those are things, Larry, one
man does. Those are things characteristic
of us all, fathers, young men, and little children. Now let
me briefly wrap this up by talking to you for a minute about our
motive. The strongest possible motive
for godliness and devotion to Christ. Brotherly love and commitment
to one another is the love, mercy and grace of God in Christ. And
then I'll speak briefly about our family. In the family of
God, both strong and weak believers are to be found. First, our motive. John says in verse 12, I write
unto you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven
you. I write to you, little children. Now the things I'm talking to
you about, I'm talking to you about because your sins have
been forgiven. The admonitions I give to brother
love, I give because your sins have been forgiven. The calls
I issue for consecration and devotion to Christ I issue because
your sins have been forgiven you Let's look at what he's written
just thus far remind you of what he said in this these two chapters
He said these things I write to you what things I'm writing
to you about the eternal God our eternal savior and eternal
salvation in him as he described in the first three verses of
chapter one. He said, I'm writing to you about real fellowship,
real union between God and men, men on the earth and God in heaven
being one in Christ Jesus the Lord. I'm writing to you about
complete forgiveness. I've told you that if you confess
your sin, He's faithful and just to forgive your sin. I've told
you that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all
sin. I urge you, it begins in chapter
2, don't sin. Don't sin. And I write to you
about our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. I've
told you that even when you do sin, we have an advocate with
the Father. He's the propitiation for our
sin. And I call you to love one another in whom God's love has
been made perfect, giving you faith in Jesus Christ the Lord.
And he speaks of that blessed walk of faith, that blessed walk
of faith that is manifest in love one for another. Faith in
Christ. Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ
is the most practical, most beneficial, richest thing to be known in
this world. Faith in Christ makes people
glad to serve each other. Faith in Christ causes people
to love one another. Faith in Christ causes people
to gladly minister to one another's needs. Now notice when John calls
for This commitment, this devotion to Christ, this consecration
to God, this devotion to one another in the cause of Christ,
devotion to the gospel, devotion to the glory of God. There's
not one word spoken about threats of punishment or terrors of law
or possibility of judgment. He calls for you and me to give
ourselves to Christ and one another because your sins have forgiven
you. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? In the
New Testament, in the word of God, in all the epistles of the
New Testament, in every admonition given to God's church in this
gospel age, in every instruction given to you who are God's people
in this world, not once in the New Testament does any apostle
refer back to the law and say, now you do this because the law
says. Not one time. Not one time. And yet the whole
of religion is constantly trying to shove you down under the oppressive
yoke of the law. When the Apostle Paul, turn over
to 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 8. When the Apostle Paul
would teach us to give, to be generous, He didn't say
in a tithe that God will take it out of your hat. He didn't say, uh, now you, uh,
you'd be sure you set aside your 10% or God will get it one way
or the other. He'll send your children to the
hospital. Oh, it's foolishness. No, no. Give as God's given to
you. Freely, cheerfully, with open
head and open heart. When, uh, I was working on a
book on the Church of God. The editor, whoever was reviewing
it, wrote to me and asked me to please consider talking some
about tithing. I said, I can't. I don't believe
in it. And he wrote back again, and he said, well, don't you
think you ought to say something about how people ought to give
and how much they ought to give just in case somebody was to
give too much? I said, if I ever run across
that problem, I'll try it. I'll consider that. Give. James Jordan, how can you
give too much to him and for him who redeemed you by his blood? Now, where are you going to put
a limit? Where are you going to say this?
This is what I'll do no more. I've done my part. Now it's time
for y'all to do yours. Listen to Paul's reasoning. Second
Corinthians eight, verse seven. Therefore, as you abound in everything,
these Corinthians, in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, and
in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that you abound
in this grace also. I speak not by commandment. I'm
not telling you some law you got to obey, but by occasion
of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of
your love. For you know. Now, what's the
motive for, you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ have
it, though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor that
you through his poverty might be made rich. Look in Chapter
nine or six. He's continuing on the same subject
to giving is This I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also
sparingly. He which soweth bountifully shall
reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth
in his heart, so let him give. Now watch this, not grudgingly
or of necessity because God's tickled to death with folks who
are tickled to death to give. God loves a cheerful giver. Look
at verse 15. Here's your motive. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. The apostle would teach us how
to behave in this world as in our domestic relationships, as
husbands, as wives, as believing children, as servants, as masters,
as employers and employees, and everything he suggests Every
motive he gives, every illustration he uses, he draws from the relationship
between Christ and his church. God's goodness and grace given
us in Christ Jesus. Read Ephesians chapters 4 and
5 when he urges us to holiness, when he would have us to live godly, to live godly. What's that mean? To live godly,
Bob, is to live for God. To live godly is to live for
God. It's not going out and joining
a monastery. It's not dressing funny or talking
funny. It's to live for God. To live godly is to live for
God. Can you get hold of that? He
said, now, this is what I want for you. Set your affection on
things above. Set your heart on heaven and
eternity. Set your heart on Christ, who
sits on the throne of God. For there your life is hid with
Christ in God. And he says, here's the motive. Christ is all. Christ is all. Christ is all, not once, not
once are God's people ever goaded to obedience in the New Testament
by the fear or threat of law. They're goaded to obedience,
goaded to godliness, goaded to consecration and devotion to
God, to Christ, to the kingdom of God, the gospel of God, the
church of God, and to one another by gratitude. for grace, mercy,
and love freely bestowed in Christ Jesus the Lord. Now, John tenderly
describes all true believers as God's little children, adopted in the family of God,
born again by the Spirit of God. He's particularly referring here
to the new creature, The new nature that's given us, making
us partakers of the divine nature. Putting Christ in us in the power
of his grace. He's talking to us now as God's
little children. Those who are born of heaven.
Those that God Almighty has come down here and saved by his grace. Revealing Christ in them. Giving
them life and faith in Christ Jesus. Making us new creatures
in Jesus Christ. He says now, little children,
Your sins are forgiven you. Your sins are forgiven you. Forgiven you. Forgiven long before
you asked for it. Forgiven long before you experienced
it. Forgiven when you asked for it.
Forgiven when you experienced it. Forgiven forever. through
the precious blood of Christ and his perfect righteousness.
Your sins are forgiven you. We have missionaries. Lindsey
Campbell, it doesn't it doesn't bother me one iota to ask you
to take from your family and give to Walter Cody Groover.
I don't hesitate to do that. Your sins are forgiven you. Why
shouldn't you? I don't hesitate to ask my wife
to make sacrifices and willingly for the cause of Christ. Why
not? Your sins are forgiven you. I don't hesitate to call on myself
to do whatever is needful in the cause of Christ. Why? My
sins are forgiven me. What can I say no to? What can
I deny God? My sins are forgiven me. You
understand the argument? John says now, children of God,
children of God, I'm calling on you to give yourselves in
the totality of your being to Jesus Christ. That means, Eric,
you give yourself in the totality of your being to the people of
God. That's exactly right. That's
exactly right. You give yourself in the totality
of your being to the people of God. How can you do that? Your sin's been forgiven you.
I didn't know it when I asked him. I asked Brother Frank to
preach for me Sunday night. I had forgotten he was supposed
to go to Alabama this week, vacation time. And I heard him say this
shabbos a little bit ago. Probably thought I wasn't paying
any attention. I was trying not to, because I finished up my message, but
he said, well, we were supposed to, but Brother Don asked me
to preach. and I can't go down on vacation,
need to preach. Well, that's just expected. That's just expected. Just expected. Now, not demanded. No, not demanded. But adjusting
my life and my wants and my wishes and my comfort and my family's
wants and my family's wishes and my family's comfort to the
cause of Christ and to the needs of God's church and kingdom is
just expected if your sins have been forgiven you. Your sins
have been forgiven you. The Lord God's forgiven us our
sins. Now, let's look at our family
for a minute. In the family of God, There are
both strong and weak believers, fathers, who've known him who was from
the beginning. Old men like to talk about old
things. And you fathers have known him
who is the ancient of days. Go ahead and talk about him. You young men, I write to you
because you're strong. I write to you, you young men,
born of God and taught of God, you young men. And I tell you
that you've overcome the wicked one. Oh, that's something. That's
something. Well, it is, but you didn't do
it. Christ conquered Satan when he
led captivity captive. The Lord Jesus, by the power
of his spirit, came and set up his throne in your heart. He
bound the strong man and cast him out. And that's how you overcome
the wicked one. And he, day by day, treads Satan
under your feet. I've written to you, little children. Now, he's talking about these
little babies. Little children. Well, what can
you say about little children? Well, they can't feed themselves.
They dirty themselves a lot. Somebody has to bathe them. Somebody
has to carry them from one place to the other. About all they
do is make noise and make a stink. That's about all they do. But
you've known the Father. You've known the Father. You
see, that's what it is to be born of God, is to have God the
Holy Spirit come into your soul, cause you to cry to God in heaven,
Abba Father. But I want to be strong and I
want you to be. I want you to be. I want you
to be knowledgeable as a father in Israel, strong in the Lord. I want you to be. But I got to
tell you something. The only way to ever be made
strong spiritually is to be made to
know your utter weakness. Peter. Oh, Peter. Let's see Peter in his strength. He stands before the Sanhedrin
in Acts chapter four, and he said, By the name and authority
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, this man
stands before you whole. Where did he get that boldness? Where did he get such strength?
Where did he find that? At the very bottom. This man who said, Lord, Though
James and John and all these others may forsake you, I won't."
The Lord said, hang on, let me show you what you're made of,
Peter. And he denies the Lord three times and he's at his utter
wit's end and he's cast out and cast down by his own conscience
until the Lord Jesus comes and strengthens him and converts
him and draws him back to himself. Peter, who knows his weakness,
is made strong. Paul. Oh, that mighty apostle. That mighty apostle. Let's see how strong he is. He
said, I knew a man in Christ. I don't know whether he's in
the flesh or out of the flesh. I don't know. but it was translated to
the third heaven, raised up to the very glory of God. And he
saw and heard things that no human tongue can describe, no
words can be used to describe them. Things that no other human being
ever saw or heard who walks on the earth. And he said, These
things puffed me up with terrible pride. There's that man full of knowledge,
knowledge that nobody else had, knowledge no one else would ever
attain to, not even walk on this earth. That man full of knowledge
in utter infancy weakness with pride. And he says, Lord, take
this from me. Lord, take this from me. Lord
Jesus, I can't live like this anymore. Take this evil from
me. And the Lord Jesus said, live
with it, Paul. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. And Paul said, I learned something
from the Lord. I learned something from the Lord. I learned that
when I'm weak, when I'm weak, That's when I'm
strong. When I can't do anything, that's
just time when I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me. When I'm utterly helpless, that's when the Lord is my righteousness
and my strength. I will therefore glory in my
infirmities. When I'm weak, then am I strong. I've been praying for 45 years
that God would use me. I've been praying for 45 years
that God would use me. And I'm beginning to understand
that won't happen except God make me to know how useless I
am. You have no strength until you
have no strength. And when you have no strength,
then Christ is my rock, my salvation, my strength, and my shield.