Keep sharing good news without ads.
Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/william-lavery/1john-2-1-3-3/
Now turn with me, please, to the first epistle of John, chapter 2. Glad everybody didn't leave. Maybe I should read from the Exodus. Glad for the ones that stay, anyhow. By the way, I remember years ago, down in Ohio, going to a house, inviting a woman out to tent meetings, and she wouldn't take an invitation or a tract, but she said, I like your accent.
Well, I said, it's not doing me any good with you. You won't take the literature. Oh, I'll take it, she said. So sometimes it might help a little bit, but I never tried to lose it. I never tried to keep it.
First John, chapter 2, verse 1. My little children, these things I write unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is a propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world, or for the whole world.
And hereby do we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word in him verily, is the love of God perfected.
Hereby know we that we are in him. Now, verse number 10. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes.
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 you have overcome the wicked one.
I write unto you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in you.
You have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, it's passing away, and the lusts are off. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Little children, it is the last time, or the last hour. And as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time, or the last hour.
They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that they might be made manifest, that they were not of us. Now verse 26, these things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
For the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you, and you need not that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him that is coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him.
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, or the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.
But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man, or every one that hath this hope in him, or set on him, purifieth himself even as he. I believe that he is the Lord Jesus is pure.
Now we know that God will bless his word with what we have already heard. I've read a few verses, but I'm not going to be complicated, I hope. It'll be very simple, and just a few points. In the first part of this chapter, we have the means of cleansing.
The Apostle John was an old man when he wrote this letter, and he had seen lots of departure among God's people. But he's still instructing them, he has a love for them, and he has told us in the previous chapter, you know the verse well, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
And then he said, if we say we have no sin, we call God a liar, and the truth is not in us. So we still have a sinful nature, and is very prone to sin. And John knew that, and he's telling them now, in this chapter, the means of cleansing.
That's what we have in those first few verses, verses 1 and 2 really. And then in verses 3 to 11, we have the marks of a Christian. Not only is he going to say something that would seem to be negative, but he's going to teach positive truth, so you have the marks of a Christian.
And then in the large part of the chapter, we have the members of God's family. We're all different, and there's different grades here, we hope to explain that quickly. And then when we come into chapter 3, we have the manner of his love.
So those are four things that we're going to touch very, very briefly. In chapter 2, verse 1, he's writing on to little children, and he said, I write unto you that you sin not. Now I've already mentioned, and you know that we're all prone to sin, but the thought is, in 1st John, it's a thought of continuing in sin.
That you do not continue in sin. Sometimes a person can slip, and it's very important, no matter how little it may seem a trivial sin to you, it's very important to know that it's a sin against God, and it grieves God, grieves the Lord.
Mr. Frank Knox, an old preacher in Ireland years ago, he saw a man saved. He was a farmer, and he came to him a few days after, and he said, I don't think I'm saved. And he said, well, what makes you think you're not saved?
Well, he said, the horse stumbled, and I said, holy moly. Well, Mr. Knox didn't say, well, holy moly's okay, you know. He said, I just thought I'll teach him a principle. And if you give your sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
And he went on, no doubt, to tell him that we have an advocate with the Father. So we have a propensity to sin, and sin does not destroy the family relationship, but it destroys the communion. So we should not encourage sin, we shouldn't excite sin, we shouldn't excuse sin.
God has saved us that we might live a holy life. But when it happens, there's one who maintains us, and it's often been pointed out, he's an advocate, it doesn't say with God, but he's an advocate with the Father.
We're still in the family, but we can be robbed of our blessing. And then he tells us what the Lord has done is a propitiation for our sins. He satisfied the throne of God in heaven regarding our sins.
It's effectual to us. And even though he made propitiation for the whole world, that means it's available, but it's effectual for us who are saved by the grace of God. And then he goes on and he said, now I want to show you some of the marks of a Christian.
And you know, one of the great things is love. And people like to talk about love, don't they? And sometimes when they leave God's assembly, they say there's no love in it. An overseer showed me a letter one time that someone wrote to him, a couple in the assembly, all the things that were wrong with the local assembly.
And the last one was, and there's no love. Well, I said, brother, what did you tell him? He said, I told him there's not much love in this letter. You see, it's not just a one-way thing, is it? But John is not saying love is a wishy-washy thing.
There's many a person that say, I love the Lord, I love the Lord. John wasn't satisfied with that. He had been here over 90 years of age. And he's saying, but you know, what about the proof of that love?
We can all say we love him, certainly. We all love the Lord Jesus, but where's the proof? Well, he's telling them the marks of a Christian is obedience. God has given us his words so that we will follow his will.
God doesn't want us just to drift through life aimlessly. And he says, what's the proof of the perfecting of that love is the word that's used. It's by fulfilling his word. And he says, this world, it's passing away.
The darkness is passing away. And now we're in the light. You know, that's a positional truth, too. We've heard of some positional truths from Ephesians. We're in the light. Someone asked J .N. Darby, yeah, but what happens if you turn your back to the light?
Well, he said, then it shines in your back. We can't get out of the light. But you see, he's telling us this, that we might live accordingly. Are we in the light? In the darkness? Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.
So, these are the marks of a Christian. Now, they're shown in my life. Do I have that love for the Lord? If I do, I'll obey him. And I'll want to please him in my life. And every day, I want to live my life to please him.
You know, it's so easy to please self. And maybe to figure, well, he'll go along with it anyhow. But we need to spend time in his presence and realize we're in the light. So, there are certain marks of a Christian.
We can't just, look, I wouldn't say anyone's not a Christian if they said they were. But I wouldn't say they were if they didn't live like a Christian. That's the difference. And we all fail. But we have an advocate that keep us into fellowship with God so that we might show these marks of the Christian in our lives.
Now, when it comes to the family, it may seem that it's kind of a complicated thing here. In verse number 12, he said, I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
Now, that little word, little children, I'm going to call it dear children. And the reason for that is I want to make a difference with other verses here. So, this verse, number 12, it refers to every child of God.
And he said, you know, you're all his children and your sins have been forgiven you for his name's sake. That's a wonderful truth, isn't it? We all enjoy that, the forgiveness of sins. But then he writes to three different classes in the family.
I write unto you, fathers, verse 13, because you have known him that is from the beginning. That's an important truth. And then he says, I write unto you, young men, that's the second category, because you have overcome the wicked one.
And then I write unto you, little children, that's a different class from what we have in 12. The little children, they're all believers, but now he's writing on to another class and he says, what characterizes them is they have known the Father.
Now, it may seem to be repetitive, because in verse 14, he said, I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. You notice that's exactly what he said in the previous verse.
But then he speaks to the young men and he adds something to what he had said in the previous verse. He said, I write unto you, young men, because you are strong. What made them strong? The Word of God abideth in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.
And he advises them not to love the world, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, and so on. And then, when we come to verse 18, he reverts back to these little children and he says, it's the last time.
And you have heard that there are many antichrists in the world. Now, the next, right down to toward the end, he's speaking about a third category. Now, what way would you look at these different, the fathers and the young men and the children?
Well, I'll tell you, the way I believe John's looking at it, he's saying there's some Christians, not just newly saved. That's true. When we're newly saved, we're little children. But he said, there's some that don't make much progress.
None of us can boast lightly about the progress that we make, I'm sure, if we're honest. But he's saying there's some, this could be an older person that could be 90 and still be like a little child and be in danger of being seduced.
And then he said, young men, there's some have made some progress in the things of God and have done it through the Word of God, but still they're in danger. The wicked one is against them, doesn't want you to get into the Word of God and make progress in your Christian life.
And when we come to the fathers, he's telling them, you can't go any farther than this, than to be occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why God saved you. That's why God saved me. Not just so that I wouldn't go down to hell, but to be occupied with the Son.
That's what we're going to be, we're going to be occupied with Him throughout eternity. A good thing if we started now, wouldn't it? Learning more of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he tells us, and I just want to point out now a few things about these little children, or young children I'll call them, young in the faith.
One thing about them, they all know the Father. Good thing to know that we have a Father, we're children in a Father, children in a family rather, and we have a Father, we're dependent upon the Father.
But then he said there's many antichrists in the world. Now John speaks about the Antichrist. There's a coming Antichrist. He might even be alive today, we're so close to the end of this dispensation, but he said today there are many antichrists, there's many against him.
That's one reason why I believe the Antichrist is a religious person, because he said there once were with it and there went left. Now I know he's talking about apostates, and I hope you understand that an apostate is a person that never was really saved.
But still the dangers are the same, maybe I'm applying it in this way. Antichrists are those who are against Christ, and I'll tell you the world is full of them. And they're not all teaching in the universities.
Many of them are very liberal in those places, but many of them are in pulpits today. They're guiding people in a religious way, and they're against the Lord. And they're teaching things that are contrary to the Word of God, and I hope you're not listening to them.
You want to make some progress, and he's telling them you're in God's family. It's the last hour. There's an assault being made against God's people, and many are departing from the faith. I don't know if I want to call them antichrist or apostates, but sometimes you'd really wonder.
They seem to give up everything they really believed. And it's a sad thing. Don't ever leave God's assembly. It's not perfect by any means, but there's no place like it. And I love the Lord, and I love the assembly, and I'll tell you why I love it.
I love it because he's there. And if I love him, I should love God's people. And that's why our brethren get up here to minister the Word of God, because they have a love for God's people. We're not trying to tell you to put you under bondage or anything like that.
We want you to enjoy these things. And he's telling these young children, he says, you're indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And when he said you have no need that any man teach you, it doesn't mean we don't need teachers.
Certainly we all need teachers. We need to be taught. But he's saying, you know, there's certain things, and I found this after God saved me. I didn't have to really read the Bible in a lot of cases. I knew things were wrong.
I said, this couldn't be right. It just didn't seem to fit into things. And I'm not going into details, but if you want to ask me later, I'll tell you some of the things. There's something about you had discernment because you're indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
And there are things that just didn't, there wasn't a right smell about them. They didn't seem to be to be right. And even though you didn't, maybe couldn't put your finger on a verse, you knew that this wasn't right.
And then he said, abide, let that therefore abide in you which you have heard from the beginning. That would be the truth. And then he goes on to speak about abiding in him. That's being in the place of nearness.
That's where I would like to be. And that's where he wants all his people were anointed by the Holy Spirit. And there's an abiding and wants us to be able to draw near and get strength. Where do we get strength to withstand these wrong teachings and so on today?
Well, you know, we get them from the vine, isn't it? You abide in me. Why does he say a vine? Well, I'll tell you why I think. Because a vine speaks of joy. And wine in the Scripture speaks of joy. The context would tell us if it's joy in the Lord or joy in the things of the world.
But if we abide in him, I tell you, that's the only way to be happy, to abide in the Lord. Now, he wants us to make some progress, so he wants us to be young men. So the next thing is now we've been saved by the grace of God.
Are we going to go on just content to come and go to the assembly like a door on the hinges and not make any progress? I wouldn't want that brand of Christian. I'd like to learn something, make a little bit of progress in the things of God.
So he speaks about these young men. And he said, love not the world. That's what would be the danger for them. I thought, you know, what characterizes you? What characterizes me? Am I a lover of the world or a lover of the Word?
That's how I'm going to overcome by loving the Word, loving the Word of God. Now, if what I have said is correct, that in there, maybe I didn't even say it, but in the Gospel of John, there's no shades of gray, it's black or white.
And we need to understand that or we'll not understand the book. It's the thought of sinning as continuing in sin, continuing in these things. And if you go to this verse, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man or anyone loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. What does that mean? It means they're not saved. If they continue to have a love for the world. We might dabble in the world.
We all do, probably. Maybe some of us more than others. But do we really love the world? The world's passing, soon going to be gone. Am I taken up with the things of the world? You can apply this in many ways, but sometimes people say to me, you should be more specific, you know?
I think a person should take it to themselves and say, now how does this apply to me? But you know, there are many Christians in the world today. I believe they're Christians and they have no compunction about going to the professional ballgames.
Well, I'll tell you, I wouldn't want to be there when the Lord comes. I'd like to be occupied with something greater than that. And then there's some, they don't mind going to the movies. They're harmless, you know.
And they're watching people that are steeped in immorality, many of them, that are acting. And that's not going to build anyone up in their most holy faith. And I think of the men that I'm indebted to, and a lot of them, for teaching, but some in particular.
I'll tell you, how could they know God? They didn't know him in the golf course or anything like that. There's only one way they knew him, by getting into his presence. As far as I'm concerned, I don't know what you think.
Those things are the world, that's what we were taught. Even before we were saved, we believed that those things were in the world. I even know that didn't keep me out of a lot of those things. So you see, we need to face up to these things.
Don't just drift through life. Face up to these realities. Do I really love the Lord? If I love the Lord, I'm going to learn more about him, and I'm going to learn more from him in his Word. Are you getting into the Word?
Am I getting into the Word of God? I often tell about a missionary from Africa that I met when I was first saved. He says, Bill, he says, get into the Word of God, and he said, get the Word of God into you.
And then he added something, he said, especially the first five books of the Bible. He knew that they're a help in understanding the rest of the Bible. Now, I'm not confining it any. I'd love to know more.
Our safeguard is knowing all the Word of God, getting into all the Word of God. And then there's others, of course, they say, well, they go to this verse, well, the Holy Spirit teach you, we don't need any teachers, and well, you know, Mr. Fred Kondig was a mighty man of God.
You know what he said? He said, a person that teaches and that doesn't read books, besides the Bible, he said, they're a proud person. Thinks he can get it all by himself. Now, don't ever cover your Bible with all the books.
You read your Bible and see what it means to you, but you know, you're not going to get it all. There's none of us who are like that. We need helps. And it's good if you have brethren, you can run things across.
We talk about things in the Bible. What do you think of this? And older preachers have asked me, well, what do you think this verse means? Next time we see, we'll discuss it and things like that. We need to have it.
My own father, he said, a person that teaches that doesn't, isn't a reader, he said, they're a dangerous person. Why? They think they can get things and you've heard some of them and they get up so pompously and they say, I never got this out of a book.
And it was quite obvious they didn't get it out of a book for nobody would write some of the stuff that they try to tell you. So get into the Word of God. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Above all things, get into the Word of God.
And what do you get into the Word of God for? It's not just to know things. So I know more than somebody else, but it's to be a help, but better than that is to get to know God and get to know the Lord Jesus.
And that's where the fathers come in. They have made progress. They might be younger, but they've made progress. The older persons maybe don't make any progress, but the younger can make progress. Why?
Because they're occupied with him that is from the beginning. There's maybe more to that than I'm bringing up, but I just want to make it simple and practical. So, you're members in the family. Now I'm just going to close by going into chapter 3, the manner of his love.
These are wonderful scriptures, aren't they? Behold, what manner of love. When the Lord was here, they said, what manner of man is this, that even the winds and the waves obey him? Isn't it Peter that says, what manner of people ought we to be?
Well, that's good to exercise about that, but what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us? What does it mean, what manner of love? Well, it's the manner of love that has brought us into God's family.
Isn't that marvelous? To think that we're in God's family. We once were linked with Adam, and he said, we'll be called the sons, it says in our Bible. It's really the children of God. It's a family relationship, and you know what happens?
Because we're God's family, he says, the world doesn't know us. Are you prominent in the world? Something wrong, isn't there? If you're prominent, you should be better known in heaven than in the world, but it says the world doesn't know us because it didn't know him.
Something wrong if we're popular in the world, isn't it? And then he says, now are we the children of God, but he said, it doesn't appear what we shall be. And he's looking on to the future, the manner of love that brings us right into the future, and he said, well, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him.
You see, he's telling them, make some progress and arrive at the point where you're occupied with Christ, because he said, one day we're going to be like him. John, I'm sure, was very like Christ, and he could speak about the love.
He appreciated the love. He leaned on his bosom and so on. He appreciated that place of nearness, and you know what he's saying? I want you to appreciate that place too. I want you to have that place of nearness to the Lord, because he said, you're going to be like him.
There's going to be a moral likeness in the future, and it's going to take place when we see him. Could be today. What a change. I'll tell you, it's going to be great. Maybe greater in some than others, but going to be a great change in all of us.
But then he says, now there's a practical aspect to it. And every man or every one, we're not excluding the sisters, every one that hath this hope in him, the hope of his coming purifies himself, even as he is pure.
The previous verses I kind of skipped over, but it speaks that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him it is coming. Some scriptures are hard just to pin down. In other words, I think primarily it's speaking about the Apostles John, who had seen people saved.
But he said, you know, we may have confidence that the Apostle would have confidence and not be ashamed before him it is coming. But you know, if there's a wider application, don't be afraid to make it, then you won't lose anything.
Are we going to be ashamed that it's coming? We're going to be found in some place where we shouldn't when the Lord comes. Hopefully not. And the same in this other verse in chapter 3 and verse number 3.
He that hath this hope in him, said on him, the Lord Jesus purifies himself, even as he is pure. But you could look at it in a practical way as well, differently, and you wouldn't lose anything. We are pure in his sight.
And he said, this is a way you should live in purity. So I hope this will be a little bit of a challenge. To me, I don't know, I think it fitted in with what our brother McCullough was bringing before us, our life, to enjoy it.
God wants us to enjoy these things. We don't enjoy Christianity. We enjoy it. But how do we enjoy it? By concentrating on the Lord Jesus Christ. Getting to know him through his word. No fanciful ideas that we try to make up, but go according to the Word of God.
And when you worship, use scriptural terms and expressions. And that's what I was always taught, keep you out of difficulty. And I try to do it. So may the Lord help us to be occupied with him, and to keep in our mind that he's coming, and we're going to be changed.
We're going to be pure, spirit, soul, and body. So he's saying now's the time to go into being more like him, and to be pure in our lives, day by day.