Sermon Brief
Date Written: February 18, 2009
Date Preached: February 25, 2009
Where Preached: Oak Park (Wed Evening)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: A Series from 1 John
Sermon Title: Encouragement for the Believer!
Sermon Text: 1 John 2:12-14
12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. 13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father. 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.
Introduction:
Amnesia is a terrible thing. The dictionary defines amnesia as: loss of memory as a result of shock, injury, psychological disturbance, or medical disorder. However, the description ‘loss of memory’ pales in comparison to the reality of loss of WHO you are…
Can you imagine waking up and not knowing where you are, what you are doing there…or worse yet WHO you are… waking up without the knowledge of your own identity.
I have woken up in places surprised and confused because I had forgotten where I was, but quickly the memory comes back to me. But that is still a frustrating, even scary feeling when you wake up and think to yourself, “where am I?”
Now here is something I know all of us can relate to; Have you ever walked into a room to do something and then you FORGET why you came into the room in the 1st place? Isn’t that frustrating? You KNOW that you came in that room for a reason but you just cannot think of what it is…
Now I want you to try to imagine NOT knowing WHO you are! Can you visualize yourself not knowing how old you are, where you are from, what your life was like before, what your life is like now, who your family is, who your friends are…NOTHING… you cannot remember ANYTHING about WHO you are!
Physically, amnesia can be overcome through environmental stimuli, but the emotional scars it can leave are terrifying. If the amnesiac never recovers their memories, all they are left with is the present and living to build some sort of life from NOTHING… they have NO foundation to build it upon… they don’t even know what their own strengths and weaknesses are…
But here is something I want you to think about tonight… what about SPIRITUAL AMNESIA? There are hundreds of thousands of people who have made a profession in Christ, but are walking around in a fog, not knowing WHO they are in Christ, not recalling where Christ has brought them from and simply are at a loss to their spiritual identity.
Unlike the physical version of amnesia, these people are not in this state because of anything physical, but it is a self induced suppression of their own identity that brings them to this state. You see the human heart is deceitful and selfish and seeks only to please its desires. Our enemy also seeks to tear down our walk in Christ and destroy our witness of the Savior. So often, believers fall prey to both of these influences… and fall into a SPIRITUAL AMNESIA!
In our passage tonight John is using some reinforcing encouragements to stimulate the memories of those who have surrendered to Christ to keep them remembering WHO they are in Christ! John does not want these believers to slip into a spiritual amnesia…
When we read these 3 verses we can see John emphasizing with great intensity the fact that he is trying to get across a point to these believers. Six times in these 3 verses we find John using the phrase… “I write to you…because”
John wanted them to know that this letter was not just words, but there was great meaning behind what he was saying, and that if they were to listen to him they would benefit… He was bring encouragement and reminder to these believers who were under persecution and difficulty… they were on the brink of FORGETTING who they were… and where they had come from and John is using this letter to remind them!
As we look at these three verses we can see that John takes a metaphorical approach to his instruction as he has done throughout all his writings. John’s writings are filled with word pictures to illustrate his point and drive home the truth of what he is writing about.
We find in these three verses references to 3 stages of life, 3 seasons of the life cycle. John references childhood, adulthood and the mature years of one’s life. Let’s look at these verses and see what we can pick up to use in our Christian walk so that we NEVER EVER fall prey to the wiles of the enemy and the deception of our own selfish heart.
Encouragement of Security for New Believers
Children are great learners; they learn so quickly and grasp things far sooner than we could ever think they would. Right now I am witnessing the blossoming of a young mind in my own household as I see Carah learning and growing in knowledge each and everyday.
But the thing about Children is that you have to be very basic with them because their cognitive abilities have not fully developed. They can grasp basic things but if you get to deep you will lose them. They need to know basic information to function, the details are not necessary.
Let me give you an example. If you see a toddler reaching for the eye on a stove you tell them NO! The toddler will look at you and you explain your NO command by saying HOT! No and hot… are the only 2 words you have to say. Telling them anything more would be futile as they would not understand it.
The thing about babies also is that they must be told over and over and over because their memories are short and they are seeking to explore their own desires. A baby is a selfish and self centered creature that needs boundaries to protect him and to teach him. Let’s look at v.12 and 13 and see what John says to the spiritual children within the church…
12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. 13…I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.
Do you see how John reveals very basic information to these believers? He is not trying to lay out a theological treatise here… he is not attempting to complete their spiritual maturity in one fell swoop, but he is speaking to them on their level and telling them key truths that they need to know to mature in their walk with Christ.
John tells them two things that seem so simple and so basic, you may wonder WHY he even mentions them. John reminds these spiritual children of the fact that their sins have been forgiven, a fact that seems simple but yet is so vital to the health and vitality of the believer.
The knowledge of our sins being forgiven and the encouragement to remind us of this fact helps us to NOT give in to the deception of Satan and his temptations. He will try to emphasize our past… bring up our sin… throw our failures in our face… all to keep us slaves to our sin!
However John reveals this simple truth that our sins have been forgiven and he goes further. You see sin doesn’t forgive itself… it just doesn’t GO away… but it has to BE forgiven BY someone. John tells us that it is forgiven, “for His names sake…”
This phrase may seem misleading but in the 1st century even the children knew how important a name was… the name was WHO the person was and here John was reminding these believes of WHO Jesus was and WHAT He had done for them… which reminded them of WHO they were IN CHRIST! They were forgiven BECAUSE of Christ!
But John goes on to share another very simple truth, and that is, “because you have KNOWN the Father…” Here is yet another very simple truth that served as a great reminder to these believer of WHO they were… They were forgiven because they knew God the Father… this word KNOW is the Greek word Egg-Know-Kate which is the perfect indicative verb.
This perfect tense and indicative mood indicate that this represents an action that is a simple fact but that it has happened and no longer has to happen again. In other words, John is sharing that these believers had met the Father and their sins had been forgiven… they had been saved and it was a one time event that never had to happen again.
John reveals the security of their salvation and the security of their forgiveness to these new believers to encourage them to keep striving toward maturity in their walk with Christ. John encourages the new believers…the children, but he also gives encouragement to those who had been serving Christ for a time… he calls them young men.
Encouragement by Revealing the Power of Young Believers
Let’s look at v.13-14 where John describes these ‘young men’…
13 …I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one... 14 …I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one…
Three basic statements to these young believers
“…because you have overcome the wicked one…”
“…because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you…”
“…you have overcome the wicked one…
Do you see a theme here with John’s encouragement to these young believers who have been serving for some time but are not fully matured? I do… it is in the fact that many of them were afraid and did not realize the power and strength they had in Christ… John reminds them of this here in these verses.
Now we cannot misrepresent what John is saying here. John is not saying that these came to overcome the evil one on their own, but it is a building process from that of the new believers. They too had been forgiven by Christ and had come to know the Father… and it is thru that relationship that they had been able to overcome the Evil one.
What does ‘overcome the wicked one...’ mean? It means that they have grown to the point in their walk in Christ where they were able to resist temptation and again John explains HOW this can happen… it is because the Word of God abides in them! They are strong and can overcome because of the Word of God that has been planted and nurtured in their hearts and now is the driving force behind their obedience to God!
John encourages the new believers by revealing their security in Christ, John encourages the young believers by revealing their power in Christ, but let’s look at how John encourages the mature believers…
Encouragement of Faithfulness for Mature Believers
13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning... 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning…
The mature believers John addresses here in this passage he calls ‘fathers’ which in the 1st century relates the picture of authority and wisdom. John’s encouragement to these believers was not complicated but very simple and straightforward.
“…because you have known Him who is from the beginning…”
This phrase of truth that John shares is an encouragement to these mature believers because it reveals to them that where they are is the right place to be!
Have you ever been in a situation where you knew it was the right thing to do, but still had your doubts…still had a wavering attitude? John wanted to encourage these mature and faithful believers that the forgiveness that saved them so many years ago was still as fresh today as it was when they were forgiven!
John wanted them to know that the Jesus they believed in so many years ago… back in the beginning of their walk in Christ… that Jesus was still real, powerful and working in their lives today! Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever!
John wanted these mature believers to be encouraged by revealing the steadfastness of God and the faithful nature of who they served! God’s forgiveness never wanes or dulls… God’s power is always there… God’s presence in their lives would NEVER diminish…
This encouragement is similar to what Jesus said in John 14:1[The Msg] when He said, “…Don’t let this throw you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me…” John is telling these believers to remain faithful in the God they trusted in so many years ago… to remain faithful to the Christ they surrendered their hearts to so many years ago!
John’s encouragements here in these 3 verses bring solace and identity to those of us who are IN Christ. They remind us with vivid clarity of WHO we are in Christ and why we are there! They are simple encouragements that have lasting effect on the heart and soul. Are you weary today in your walk? Know that you are loved and that God is faithful!
