I've entitled this message, Five Blessings of Grace. And these blessings are what
every child of God possesses. Now, when we were reading that
passage of scripture, we read of little children, young men,
and fathers. And while there is differences
in growth and grace, some are more spiritually mature than
others. You know that. Someone that has been saved for
30 years probably knows and understands more of the grace of God than
somebody that's been saved for one day. They're saved the same
way, but there are different levels of maturity. But I don't
believe that's what John's talking about here. Here's why I say
that. Little children, I believe, are
the highest level of maturity you can get in the kingdom of
God. To become like a little child. To believe like a little
child. And these young men, when we
read that they're strong and that they've overcome the wicked
one, we think of hand-to-hand battle with the wicked one and
their strength beating him and overcoming him. But that's not
the case at all. They overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb, not by their strength. And this thing of knowing God,
the fathers have known God, the little children have known God,
what a blessing that is. Every believer knows the living
God and is known of God. And this blessing of being strong,
now I dare say that nobody here feels like they're strong. I
know I certainly don't. But if you have Christ in you, you're
strong, aren't you? Greater is he that's in you than
he that's in the world. You have omnipotence behind you,
Christ in you, the hope of glory. And this is true of every believer
that the word of God abides in thee. So these blessings that
are mentioned in this passage of scripture to the little children,
I want to be a little child, don't you? I wanna be, oh, I
wanna be a little child. And I also wanna be a young man,
strong, with the word of God abiding in me. And I also wanna
be a father, spiritually mature. Remember where Paul said at the
Corinthians, though you have 10,000 instructors, you have
not many fathers in Christ Jesus. I wanna be all these things,
and every believer does, but every believer has all five of
these blessings. And the first one, verse 12. I write unto you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven you, for his name's
sake. Now I hope the Lord will give
us all the grace to hear just what he's saying. Your sins Not society's sins, not your
neighbor's sins, but your sins. Know anything about your sins?
The sins you have committed? Sins of nature, sins of commission,
breaking God's law, lying, cheating, stealing, coveting, committing
adultery, your sins of commission, your sins of omission, not doing
what you know you ought to do, your sins, sins you're aware
of, sins you're not aware of, sins against light, Sins against
love, habitual sins, secret sins, sins that nobody knows about,
but you and God, besetting sins that beat you black and blue. Sins that you commit over and
over and over again. You confess them, you commit
them, you confess them, you commit them. Sins that make you think,
could I even be a child of God if I commit such sins so habitually? Your sins. Know anything about
your sins? Well, your sins are forgiven
you. All those things that ran through
your mind, your sins, this is true of every child of God. They
are forgiven you. Not will be forgiven if Most
people think salvation ends with the forgiveness of sin. If you
do this and this and this, you'll be forgiven. Not so. In the original,
this thing of forgiveness, are forgiven. It's a verb. And it's
in the perfect passive tense. And what does that mean? Perfect
means perfectly completed, never to be repeated. All of your sins
are forgiven, including the sins that you have not yet committed. They're put away. They're taken
away. They're canceled out. They're
gone. They're forgiven. They're blotted out. Why? Justification. Before God, you
stand just. Not just as if you've never sinned,
you've never sinned. They've been blotted out. You
see, if your sins are forgiven, they're blotted out, canceled,
and put away. And this is in the passive tense,
perfect, perfectly completed, never to be repeated. Passive,
that means you didn't do anything to get this great blessing. There
is not, let me repeat that, there is not one thing you or I have
done to get this great blessing of the complete forgiveness of
sin. You were passive. They were forgiven
before you asked for forgiveness. They were forgiven before you
confessed them. And that's the way God forgiveness works. I'm
telling you the truth. You remember when Nathan Came
up to David and said, thou art the man. And you remember the
story. And David said, I've sinned. And Nathan said, the Lord put
away your sin. He didn't say he will put it away if you repent.
He said, the Lord hath put away thy sin. Your sins were forgiven
before the actual commission of them in the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, and you were passive in this
thing. Now, listen to this. I hope the Lord speaks to me.
This is speaking to me. I hope this is speaking to you.
When the Lord speaks to you and you hear from Him, your sins, your sins are forgiven you. What a blessed thought. And notice
why they're forgiving you. This is true of every believer.
Verse 12, your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. And just what does that mean?
For his name's sake. I want you to turn to a few scriptures.
Turn to Psalm 106. I love this confession of sin
in verse six. We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. That's a confession of sin, isn't
it? No beating around the bush. He says in verse seven, our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the multitude
of thy mercies. They were ungrateful, but they
provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea. Nevertheless, he saved them for his name's
sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. Nevertheless, In spite of the
fact that we've sinned with our fathers, we've done wickedly,
we've committed iniquity, nevertheless, he saved them for his namesake. No other reason is needed. Isaiah 43. Verse 25. I even I am he that blotteth
out thy transgressions. Why? For my own sake. Not for your sake, for my own
sake, and will not remember your sins. Look back up in verse 22 of the
same chapter, but thou has not called upon me, O Jacob, But thou hast been weary of me,
O Israel. Weary in the ways of the Lord.
Weary. Weary. Wishing maybe it could
be some other way. Weary. Thou hast not brought
me the small candle of thy burnt offerings, neither hast thou
honored me with thy sacrifices. You've just been going through
religious rituals. I have not caused thee to serve with an
offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast bought me
no sweet cane with money. Neither hast thou filled me with
the fat of thy sacrifices, but thou hast made me to serve with
thy sins. Thou hast wearied me with thine
iniquities. I, even I. It's almost like he's
surprised he can do this. I, even I, am he that blotteth
out thy transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember
thy sins. Ephesians chapter four, verse
32. Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. No other reason
is needed. Your sins are forgiven. for His
name's sake. Believer, this is true of every
believer, your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. Rest, rest, have peace, have
joy for this reason. All your sins are blotted out.
They are forgiven. for the sake of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now back to our text in 1 John
2. Verse 13, I write unto you fathers,
because you have known him that is from the beginning. Now if
fathers is the expression of the highest level of maturity,
This is the greatest grace you and I can have, to know Him,
to actually know God. This is eternal life, that they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent. Now, to know God is, first of
all, to be known of God. You don't know God unless he
knows you. I love that scripture in Galatians
chapter 4 verse 9 which says, now that you've known God or
rather are known of God. Here is my hope that he knows
me. I don't find any comfort in my
knowledge of him. All my comfort is in his knowledge
of me. If you know God and if you're
a believer, you know him. You're not name dropping. You
actually know the living God. He would own you. That's somebody
who knows me. You wouldn't be one of these
people who say, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name?
In your name, have we not cast out devils? And in your name,
have we not done many wonderful works? I love that description
of their estimation of the works, many and wonderful. What does the Lord say to them?
Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. I never loved you. I never knew
you to worship me, to have communion with me, to love me, to have
fellowship with me. I never knew you. Now that's said of everybody
who hadn't had their sins forgiven. But if you've had your sins forgiven,
understand this, you know the living God. Now this knowledge
of God is speaking of knowing the Father, yes, but it's also
speaking of knowing the Son and knowing the Spirit. It's a relationship
with the living God. God's your Father. Christ is
your Savior. He's your brother. He calls you
brother. He's your Lord. He's your Master. All you know
of the Father and all you know of the Son is through God the
Holy Spirit. You know the three persons of
the Godhead. And the Lord said this in John
chapter 10, I know my sheep, and am known of mine. My sheep hear my voice. My sheep hear my voice, and a
stranger they will not follow, for they know not the voice of
strangers. They'll not hear, they'll not
believe a false gospel. They won't do it. You see, they
can't. I think of that passage of scripture
where the Lord's talking about the false prophets. He said,
if it were possible, they'd deceive the very elect, but it's not
possible. My sheep know my voice. A stranger they will not follow. Now, if a sheep hears something
that's contrary to the gospel, you know what? They won't hear
it. They'll run from it. It will be offensive to them.
No, no, something's wrong with this. You see, they know the
voice of the shepherd, and they don't recognize the voice of
strangers. Anything that's contrary to the
gospel of God's grace, election by the Father, redemption by
the Son, regeneration by the Holy Spirit, the absolute sovereignty
of God, the deadness of men, anything that's contrary to the
gospel, they won't hear. Because they know His voice. And they know not the voice of
strangers. If what they're hearing is not
Christ is all, they don't want to have anything to do with it.
If what they're hearing is in Him dwells all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. If it's not
that, they won't hear it. They don't get any joy. They
don't get any peace. They don't get any comfort. They don't get
any hope out of that message. They will not hear the voice
of strangers. Now, what is the evidence that
a man really knows God? A lot of people claim to know
Him. What is the evidence that a man
or a woman really knows God? They believe the gospel. It's
that simple. They rely upon the Lord Jesus
Christ as all in their salvation. They have the same faith God
does. God looks to his son for everything in Todd and Albert's
salvation. He doesn't look for a thing out
of me. He looks for everything from his son. And you know what?
I look to Him for everything for Todd and Albert's salvation.
I got same faith God does. It's the faith of God's elect,
the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness. What
is the evidence of someone knowing God? They believe the gospel. Now, someone who knows God can
look nowhere but Christ alone. That's what it is to know God.
You look nowhere. but Christ alone. Here's your motto. If you know
God, here's your motto. This comes from the depths of
your heart. Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. Now, that's what people say who
know the living God. In every one of God's people,
fathers, little children, young men, here's what they all have
in common. the living God. What a blessed
revelation to know God. Now look in verse 13 again. He says, I write unto you young
men, because you have overcome the wicked one. Now, when we
read something like that, we think of a young man, a soldier
who has such spiritual strength that he can overcome the devil.
Now, is that what it's saying? Well, for one thing, the word
overcome, here's another grammar thing, but it helps us understand
it. It's in the perfect tense. You know what that means? It's
something that's already been completed. It's not an ongoing
battle. It's a battle that has already
been won. And how is it that these young
men have overcome the wicked one? Is it because they can just
resist temptations and the devil can tempt them and they can just
refuse the temptations? Is that what it's all about? Well, turn with me to Revelation
chapter 12. Remember the best commentary
on Scripture is Scripture. And here's the Scripture that
will tell us exactly what this means when these young men overcome
the wicked one. Verse 10, And I heard a loud
voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength and
the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ, for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before
our God day and night. Now what a name for the devil,
the accuser of the brethren, who goes before God day and night
and makes accusation. Now let me ask you a question. Would he have to exaggerate in
his accusations against you? Make it worse than it is? Would
he have to tell lies? Would he have to tell things
that are not true and bring those up before God? Every accusation he'd make against
you is what? True and unexaggerated. That's the truth. So how do they
overcome these accusations? We'll look in verse 11. And they
overcame him. How? By the blood of the Lamb. That's how they overcame the
wicked one. By the blood of the Lamb. the precious blood of Jesus
Christ which cleanses us from all sin, and every one of those
accusations are thrown out of court. They're no good. None
of them are true. But, didn't I do these things? Your sins are forgiven you for
His name's sake. They're blotted out. And every
accusation He brings, every accusation the law brings, every accusation
my own conscience brings, whatever the accusation is, They overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. That's how they overcame him.
The blood of the Lamb. And look what it says next. And
by the word of their testimony. You want to hear my testimony?
Here's my testimony. The blood of the Lamb. That's
my testimony. The blood of the Lamb is all
my salvation. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that's everything. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely
give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? God justified him. Who is he
that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God. who
maketh intercession for us. Now these young men, how did
they overcome the devil? Through the blood of the Lamb. And that is how every believer
overcomes, through the blood of the Lamb. You know the Lord
said, all seven of the churches that to him that overcometh. Every believer overcomes. Turn
with me to 1 John chapter four. Here's how these men overcame. Verse four, God, little children,
and have overcome them, these false prophets. You haven't succumbed
to their false message, because greater is he that's in you than
he that's in the world. That's how you overcome, because
there's somebody that's in you, and he's greater than anybody
in the world. Turn to 1 John chapter five. For whatsoever, verse four, 1
John 5, verse 4. For whatsoever is born of God
overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh
the world. Even our faith, who is he that
overcometh the world? But he that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God. Do you believe that Jesus is
the uncreated, eternal Son of God, the creator of the universe? the one who controls everything,
the one who's running the show, the one who's Lord, both of the
dead and the living. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Son of God? You've overcome the world. That's
the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2,
verse 14, thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph. in Christ. I don't know of a
term that I dislike more than a defeated Christian, a defeated
Christian life. We are more than conquerors through
him that loved us. And that's talking about all
of God's elect. We are more than conquerors through
him that loved us. Back to our text in 1 John chapter
2. He says once again to the children,
he says the same thing concerning them that he said of the fathers.
I write unto you little children, because you've known the father.
Little children, your sins have been forgiven you for his name's
sake. Little children, you've overcome the wicked one. Little
children, you've known the father. Every single one of them. What
could be better than knowing God? All shall know me from the
least to the greatest, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness
and their sins and iniquities. I will remember you. I will remember
them no more. Now look in verse 14. He repeats what he said about
the fathers again. And I've written unto you fathers, because you've
known him that is from the beginning. Three times in these five blessings,
this knowing God is mentioned. Do you have any idea how blessed
you are if you know God? If you believe the gospel, God
has done something for you. He's passed by many and he's
done something for you. The only response is why me?
Why me? And then he says in verse 14, I've written unto you young men.
This is the middle of the verse. I've written unto you young men
because you're strong. I've written to you because you
are strong. Now, if you're a believer, you
have spiritual strength that you never had before God did
something for you. There's no such thing in that
sense. I know there's weaker brethren that don't have as much
understanding of the gospel as someone who's strong in the faith.
The scripture makes that distinction, I realize that. But every believer
has this true of him. Sin shall not have dominion over
you because you're not under the law, but under grace. Now you do things now that you
at one time could not do. You couldn't anymore believe
and repent than you could create a universe. You're dead in sins. You were blind. You couldn't
see. You couldn't feel. You didn't
even know what sin was. You had no concept of the gospel.
You were dead. You had no spiritual strength. God did something for you. He
gave you a new heart. It was omnipotence. The same
power that raised Christ from the dead is the power that gave
you a new birth. The new heart. And you do things
now that you could never dream of doing. You trust Christ. You really believe He's Lord.
You love Him. You repent. You're in a continual
state of repentance. You see your sin for what it
is. What is that? That's strength. That's spiritual strength. You
feel yourself to be weak and well, you should. Didn't Paul
say, when I am weak, then am I strong? If you're so weak,
you have nowhere to look but Christ. You don't have anything
in you that you could look at and say, I must be saved. Look
at that, look at that, look at that. No, all you have to look,
the only place to look is Christ. That is spiritual strength. Something the world knows nothing
of. And what a blessing it is to
be weak. Paul said, when I'm weak. And he was talking about
a thorn in the flesh in the context. He said, there was given to me
a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest
I be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations.
I asked the Lord three times, let this depart from me. And
he said, my grace is sufficient for you. Are you satisfied to
be saved purely by grace? Every believer is. He said, most
gladly therefore will I rather glory in firmness. It's the power
of Christ may rest upon me. When I'm weak, then am I strong. You show me the weakest believer
and I'll show you a strong person. And then he says in verse 14,
once again, of the young men You're strong, and the Word of
God abides in you, and you've overcome the wicked one. He repeats
that again, and we know how they overcame him. But this thing
of the Word of God abiding in you, the Word of God is God himself. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
the written Word in your heart that reveals the living Word
in your heart. Christ in you. The hope of glory. I live, yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. You see, I know that the faith
I have, it's not me. It's Christ living in me. Don't you know that your faith
is not the product of you? He's the one that caused it.
The repentance you have, it didn't come from you. He caused it. I live, I believe, I repent,
I love, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the
life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. The word of God
abideth. You know what that means? He'll
never leave you. He'll never leave you. He's there
for good. He abideth. He remains. He'll always be there. Now what blessings given to the
young, the young man, the little children, the young man, the
father, and every believer wants to typify all those people. I want to be that little child.
I want to be that young man who's strong and has the Word of God
abiding in him, and I want to be that father who knows the
Father, knows Him that's from the beginning. But these five
blessings of grace every believer possesses, your sins are forgiven
you for His name's sake. You have known the Father. You've
known the Son, you've known the Spirit, but you've known because
you're known of God. You've overcome the wicked one.
And you know why you have. It was through the blood of the
Lamb. Not through your works, but through the blood of the
Lamb. You're strong in this sense. The Word of God is promised.
Sin shall not have dominion over you. There was a time when it
did, when you were blind, dead, thought you were a good person.
Had no idea what sin was in the first place. It seems I'm going
to have dominion over you, because you're not under the law, but
under grace. And that's where our strength
is. And with regard to every believer, the Word of God abideth
in you. What blessings of grace. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that our sins have been forgiven
for thy son's namesake. Lord, how we thank you that we
actually know you because you've known us and made yourself known
to us. How we thank you that we overcome
by the blood of the Lamb. How we thank you for the spiritual
strength that comes through the word of God abiding in us and
causing us to persevere and to believe the gospel. Lord, take
this and bless it for your glory and our good. We give thanks
for our blessed redeemer. Lord, as we continue in this
week, we ask that you would open up doors for us to preach your
gospel to others. And we ask that you would bring
people in to hear the gospel and that you'd give us a zeal
for your glory. and a greater love to perishing
men and women, for the honor of your name. Forgive us of our
sins, for Christ's sake, in his name we pray, amen.