9. 1 John 2:12-15 An Interjection

Remain standing, turn in your Bibles to the epistle of 1st John, 1st John chapter 2. We'll be reading verses 12 to 15 this morning. Hear now the inspired word of God. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven, forgiven you for his namesake.

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.

I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who has been 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 evil one.

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence again this morning, reading this epistle which is all about granting us assurance of faith.

And as we continue along, we ask very simply that you would be pleased to bless the preaching, that the word would go forth, and that just as you have promised, it would accomplish every purpose for which you send it, and we know it will not return void.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. I've titled this sermon this morning, An Interjection, for it appears that John pauses from his declared purpose for the letter and gives us some information regarding the recipients of the letter.

But first, what is an interjection? Well, the dictionary defines an interjection as an abrupt remark made especially as an aside or interruption. Let me give you a couple of examples of interjections.

Two kids left home alone getting into a little bit of mischief and upon hearing a car door, one says, yikes, mom and dad are home. Or a conversation between a husband and wife in driving in the vehicle and one all of a sudden goes, whoa, slow down.

Or two people waiting in line at an airport discussing the details of the vacation when one interjects, uh-oh, and just feels himself up. But my personal favorite, two young lads on a field trip to a tech center and one turns to the other and says, gee, I wonder what happens if you push this button.

Those are just some examples of interjections. But as we get to the text, there's a couple of important points just to remember, to remind us of. Remember, John is writing to the church, to true believers.

The church has been affected by Gnostic heresy, which is upsetting the faith of some. So John addresses the subject of the assurance of faith. And we have put forward three distinct tests for genuine salvation that John uses.

The first was the moral test, obedience to the commandments. Second was the social test, the demonstration of love for God and love for each other. And now before he introduces the third test, the doctrinal test, John writes these words that we read this morning in our text.

We're going to look predominantly at verses 12 to 14 this morning. But the central theme of this, if we can call it a parenthesis, is verse 15 of 1 John chapter 2. And that is this, do not love the world nor the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So John halts his exposition to give forth this important information. Love not the world. And leading up to that point, we notice that he addresses three distinct categories or classes of Christians, children, fathers, and young men.

Why these three classes of people? Why now at this point in his letter? And what is his purpose in interrupting his own train of thought with these words? What is his purpose? You may even come up with more questions than these on your own.

But let me add to the mix that there is no universal agreement among commentators affirming who are these three classes of people. But first let's address the purpose of the insertion of the next six verses.

And to understand his reasons, we must look at the broader picture concerning who John was. Yes, we know he was an apostle, but he was also a loving pastor with an emphasis on the word loving. He was one who understood how the gospel impacted people, specifically his people.

He was also one who was concerned about doctrinal truth. In fact, in his writings, we find some of the greatest truth about theology, specifically concerning who Christ is, of anywhere in all of the scripture.

But the guiding principle of his life, which is reflected in his writings, is his love for Jesus and his love for the church. So one can logically suppose that while writing the test for the assurance of faith that we have seen so far, that he paused and reflected on how his, as he calls them, his dear children, how they would receive this letter.

Keeping the commandments, loving others the same way Christ loves, these are not easy teachings to not only to teach, but for us to adhere to. So he pauses and he reflects on what he has said and offers some practical biblical counsel for living up to the standard of God's word.

Besides being a master theologian, John was a very practical man. So the first reason for the parenthesis is pastoral practice. He offers words of comfort to them. He desires to show them that the standard of scripture is not too high for them to attain to it.

The second reason, which is related to the first, is to show his flock that what he has told them so far are basically just the elementary principles of Christianity. In other words, he's saying this is nothing new.

It's fair to say that by the time John is writing this letter, many of the other letters written by the apostles and the gospels, which ultimately were canonized into the scriptures, had been read by his audience.

If no other gospels, certainly they had John's gospel at their disposal. So they know the elementary principles of what it means to be a Christian. So he offers words that are meant to encourage them as they pursue holiness in their everyday lives.

And you will see in a minute just how he does that. But the third reason for this parenthesis, if you will, is to show them, and this gets pretty tough, there's no excuse for failure. In previous studies, we have seen that John deals with the extremes.

Remember those who think that it's hopeless to try to keep the commandments because nobody is perfect. And on the other extreme, those who presume upon the grace of God, they live sinful, wanton lives relying on the promise that he will forgive sins.

Oh, it's okay if I sin because God's going to forgive me. Neither of those is the correct view of John's epistle, let alone the entirety of scripture. The position that John takes is the mediating position, if I can call it such.

He basically says, if you come to one of these false views of salvation, you need to go back to the beginning, to the elementary essential principles of the gospel message. Because the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ as related in the scripture is, and listen carefully to this, you have received everything that you need to live a godly life.

That's the promise of scripture. So in these verses before us this morning, he brings us back to the elementary yet essential principles that will bring you to full assurance of faith. And he does so in what I consider to be an interesting way.

Let me read verses 12 to 14 again. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for his namesake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him, who has been from the beginning.

I'm writing to you, young man, because you have overcome the evil one. I've written to you, children, because you know the father. I've written to you, fathers, because you know him, who has been 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 come overcome the evil one.". There's six admonitions in these three verses and John uses three descriptions for those to whom he is addressing and he says he is writing to them based upon certain assumptions.

Notice that in each of the six admonitions he says I am writing to you because. In other words, there's a reason. You know there's a lot of good information for us to learn in these verses. John's assumption, his assumptions let me put it plural, are based upon the fact that he knows his audience.

These are not wild baseless assumptions. I just assume that you know that. No, these assumptions are based upon those whom he knows. We made some of these observations in our introductory sermons on this epistle.

In other words, John knows his readers and for good reason we can also say without hesitation that he loves them and what he knows about these people allows him to press on in the purpose of his letter for what John says about these people is important.

Listen to how Martin Lloyd-Jones describes these verses. He says, and I quote, in other words we have in these three verses what I am again describing as the very fundamentals, the bare essentials, the irreducible minimum of the whole Christian position.

That's important for us to understand that. So then based upon that, who are these people? Everyone who reads this letter wants to know why John addresses this teaching as he does to these three classes of people.

And as I mentioned earlier, there's no universal agreement even among theologians and commentarians. Some say that John is addressing three categories of people based upon their respective ages. Others say he's only addressing two categories under the general heading of little children.

After all, he began this chapter with similar words. My little children, I'm writing these things to you. That's in verse 1 of chapter 2. Some say John is addressing the various groups because we have certain ages, both chronological and spiritually, we have maturity and different needs.

And then the question is raised, why doesn't John address them in age order? It's a lot of questions. And again, I have to go back to Martin Lloyd-Jones. I love his commentary on this. Listen carefully to what he says.

But I repeat, it does not matter. Because what really matters is that clearly the Apostle is telling us that these truths of the Christian life and of the early Christian faith must be understood by all.

And so I've decided not to spend all my time this morning going through trying to identify these people, but getting to the crux of the matter and what is the teaching. Now that's not to say that at certain times certain portions of Scripture are more relevant than at other times.

For example, Proverbs has particular relevance to young people who are maturing, especially through the teenage years. Parents, if you have children approaching that age or in that age, you should be in really in-depth studies of the book of Proverbs.

It's the wisdom from Solomon on how to raise young people. Certain Psalms are of great comfort to those who are grieving. We've just finished reading through the Psalms of Ascent. Those are great Psalms to read to somebody who is suffering.

The Gospels are absolutely essential for new believers. And then the pastoral epistles, we understand that Titus, 1st and 2nd Timothy, are written to pastors. And they should be understood by all who are in ministry.

But that being said, remember Paul's admonition to Timothy in 2nd Timothy 3 .16. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfectly equipped for every good work.

But notice, even those two verses were written by Paul to a young pastor. But they are views to the whole church. And that is what is really important to learn from this epistle. John writes to these people because they know certain essential principles of the faith.

And that's the basis for his confidence in them. So what to know? What does John consider to be essential for his purpose here? Well first, remember the main purpose of his letter. John is writing that they may know that they have eternal life, chapter 5 verse 13.

Here he is writing these things to them because they know their sins have been forgiven. You can see why John starts here. This is basic, yet absolutely essential. Let me put it this way. If a Christian is asked, are your sins forgiven?

Do you know that your sins are forgiven? The Christian must, and there's only one answer the Christian can give, and that is yes, they are. He doesn't say, I hope so, or I'm working on it. Those are answers of non-believers because that's all they have.

But the answer for a Christian is a resounding, yes, my sins are forgiven, and I put three exclamation points. I know that's grammatically incorrect, but it's theologically correct. Why such a strong answer?

Look at verse 12. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for his name's sake. The Christian is relying on nothing else other than Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin.

He's not relying on himself to any degree. One of the major points of all the writing of Scripture is the centrality of Jesus Christ. That is the basis for the assurance you have of your salvation. Why?

Because Christ did the work. He died for our sins. He guarantees we will be saved to the uttermost, and we have so many scriptures. Isaiah 57, the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. And Jesus said that all that the Father has given him will come to him, and he will not lose one of them, but will raise them up on the last day.

Those are statements of Jesus Christ. How dare we say, I don't know if my sins have been forgiven? Fact is, if you're a Christian and you doubt that your sins have been forgiven, that's sin, because it is a lack of faith in the promises of God as written in his Word.

You know, if it was up to us to earn forgiveness, then we could say, well, I hope so. In fact, some say it's arrogant to say with certainty that your sins are forgiven. It's much more humble, they say, to be uncertain.

Again, that might be true if your forgiveness depended upon you, but the promise is that Christ paid the price for your sins, and it is his promise to forgive. To doubt his Word is sin. One of my favorite hymns, and this again, I've said this before, I'll say it again, one of the reasons I love that we sing predominantly hymns is because of the theology that's built into them.

One of my favorite hymns sums up this point so well. In fact, we've adopted it as the unofficial theme song of Hope Reformed Baptist Church. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus's blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus's name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. That's the promise of God. Let's look at the second essential truth.

This is expressed by John in verses 13 and 14 as he addresses the young men. He says, I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. And then in verse 14, he addresses the young men again.

He says, I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Notice carefully what he says to these young men. You have overcome the evil one.

Not you're going to, but you already have. What does he mean by that? Is this, is he addressing these young men? Are they an elite spiritual fighting force, a spiritual special forces unit? The answer is no.

He is addressing particularly the younger in the faith, those who have just come to faith or have matured somewhat in the faith. And by extension, as we've already pointed out, these are truths that are essential for all who believe.

So what does it mean you have, have overcome the evil one? Well, very simply, when you are saved, that is when you are born again, and the burden of sin is removed from your back. That moment that Bunyan captures in Pilgrim's Progress, when Christian, Christian's burden falls off his back and he is free from the condemnation of sin.

At that time, the reality is the evil one has been overcome. Not by the works of the Christian, but by the works of our Savior Jesus Christ. And it's essential that every Christian understand that you have that initial victory over Satan.

That's why the angels rejoice when one sinner is saved. The angels throw a party in heaven because Satan has been overcome. That's not to say that we're done with evil, or even the temptation of the world of flesh and the evil one.

Quite the contrary, Peter tells us that the evil one is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But the fact still remains, the salvation of a sinner is a decisive victory in the kingdom of God, and we must never lose sight of that.

And with the memory of that victory, we go forth into the continuing battle with the enemies of the cross. This is an extremely important point, which is shown by the fact that John repeats it. In both 3rd verses 13 and 14, he says the same thing, and that adds the emphasis to his point.

Knowing that if Christ is for us, who can be against us is an important point. I can remember when I was a little kid, there was a couple bullies that lived up the street, and they were picking on me a little bit, and I ran home.

And I remember standing there, and all of a sudden, and they were taunting me and everything else. And all of a sudden, they got this frightened look on their face, and then they ran away, turned around my big brother, eight years older than me.

All he had to do was show himself. We have a big brother. Jesus Christ is our big brother. Paul says in Romans 8 35, who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword Paul doesn't say, well maybe.

Look at his words, verse 37 of Romans 8, but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. And then he goes on with the litany, for I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So you can see why John is including these essential truths. Before he admonishes the church to love not the world, which is difficult teaching, and before he gives the third test of salvation, he's not finished yet.

He's not even finished with the young men. He says one of the reasons that he's writing to them, because they're strong. Of course he means strong in the Lord. It's important for the Christian to understand where this strength comes from.

How do we how do we stand in against evil? Zechariah 4 6. This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. That's what he's saying to the young men.

They're strong, strong in the Lord. But he's still not finished with the young men yet. Let me read verse 14 again. I have written to you young men because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Notice what he says. The word of God abides in you. The Holy Spirit, using the word of God, which is abiding in them, gives the Christian the strength to overcome the evil one. This is such a crucial point.

We have to pause here for a minute. We've addressed what it means to be abiding. We discussed that last week. Spent some time on it. The Christian abides in the love of God. He abides in Christ. And remember in Scripture that the word abide indicates permanence.

Not just remaining for a short time, but a long-term commitment. And this abiding is a central theme of this epistle. In verse 6, two weeks ago, we studied this. The one who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk in the same manner as he walked.

Last week we came across the same concept in verse 10. The one who loves his brother abides in the light. And don't gloss over the last clause of that verse. It says, the one who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

And then later on in this chapter, we'll see it's a command. Now little children abide in him. And again, remember John is speaking to the church, to true Christians. And the admonition to abide in him is for everyone.

Not just for the young men, but for everyone. So this description of these men that the Word of God abides in them, that should come as no surprise to us. If you are abiding in Christ, his Word abides in you.

Hence, you have the strength to overcome the evil one. It's what we pray for in the Lord's model prayer. Deliver us from the evil one. And then always remember Paul's words. We read them before in Romans 8 37.

Do we just cope with evil? Do we just hope we are going to do okay when we're tested? Paul says, but in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. We are more than conquerors.

We're not copers who merely hang in there. We overwhelmingly conquer. Let me quote Martin Lloyd-Jones once again. He says, let me sum it up again like this. If we feel that the demands of this Christian life are too high or impassable, it is nothing but sheer ignorance.

That's why I quote him. A sheer lack of faith. And then he continues, and I quote again, there is a sense in which we have no right to be weak, no business to be failures, when all of this is offered to us.

And remember verse 10, the one who abides in him, there is no cause to stumble. And that brings us to the third essential truth in these admonitions. He says, I'm writing to you fathers because you know him who has been from the beginning.

And then John sees fit to write that same thing again in verse 14. I have written to you fathers because you know him who has been from the beginning. I believe John uses this language, which is the same language he used when he opened this epistle.

Remember 1st John 1 .1, what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the word of life. He is writing to those who know God, they know Jesus Christ.

Let me be quick to point out that when he talks about knowing, it is not mere knowledge about God, but knowing God, intimately, personally. It means abiding in him and he in you. It is so personal that what is done to you is said to be done to him.

Remember the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, when he's confronted with Jesus Christ, Jesus doesn't say, why are you persecuting my church? He said, why are you persecuting me? This intimate knowledge of God underscores this whole epistle and John's purpose in writing it.

Look at the first test for assurance, the social test, we call it. Obey the commandments. If you know God and are abiding in him, that's not a burden, it's an act of love. Consider the second test, love one another.

How can you not love a brother for whom Christ has died? Think about that. You're not loving someone for whom Christ laid down his life? And then the third test, which we'll get to in a couple of weeks, the doctrinal test.

To know God is to know the truth about him. There are many counterfeit religions who claim to be followers of God and yet they do not know the truth. That is what the church was facing when John wrote his letter.

Remember the Gnostics were masquerading as those with truth. They claimed they had secret knowledge but they didn't know God. And that was manifested by their disobedience to the commandments. They lived profligate lives while claiming to be followers of Christ and their lives were not marked by love.

They lived self-centered and reckless lives, having no use for the commandments of God nor the love of the brethren. In fact, they loved the things of this world. And next week we'll see that admonition do not love the world nor its things.

I have one last interjection. Forsooth! I think I mistitled my sermon. What I mean by that, John really isn't interjecting in these verses. It's not an aside, it's not an unrelated point, and it's certainly not awkward.

He's giving us relevant information to support his purpose, and that purpose is to bring us to full assurance of our faith. So if you're a Christian here this morning, it is my prayer for you that you are fully assured of your faith, that you would know God, that you would abide in him and he in you, and armed with that assurance that you would be boldly, that you would boldly enter the battle against the evil one, knowing that the Lord has given you the strength to persevere to the end.

And if you're here this morning and you're not a believer, you've never come to that point yet, I would urge you to study the Word of God, read the Gospel, read the Gospel of John. If you have questions, you can come to any one of the elders, and we'd be happy to sit down with you and explain exactly what it means to come to Jesus Christ, to be born again.

That is our prayer. Let's pray. Father, we do bow before you, and thank you, Father, for revealing yourself through the person of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Father, that you abide in us and we in you. Thank you for the forgiveness of sins.

And I do pray, Father, and I do pray that you would bring everyone in this congregation to full assurance of faith, that we would have an impact into this world for Jesus Christ, that we would be those that are advancing his kingdom.

Help us to focus on his kingdom and his righteousness first, and we know that you'll take care of all the details. We pray this, and I pray, Father, for anyone here who doesn't know you, that today would be the day of salvation.

Take away their stony heart, give them a heart of flesh, that they might repent and believe. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.