Now, this passage of Scripture is a passage that is somewhat perplexing to commentators. Many cannot decide if the verses that deal with the little children, fathers and young men, are an integral part of what goes before or what goes after, or if it is a part of either of these other narrative sections at all. Some say that it's just a punctuation that John decided to put in. Some say that perhaps he was interrupted about this time. He received another message that he felt he had to address, walked off for a while, came back, put this in, was interrupted again, came back and continued his narrative. To me, there appears to be a very good connection between what he says about little children, then fathers and young men, and what follows. He's telling them the reason for his writing this epistle. Now, each of you is familiar with some of the purposes of John's writing this. It appears that the church to which he is writing has had a fairly severe conflict within the membership of those who deny some cardinal doctrines. And those who deny these doctrines have become convinced that there is no possibility of any union and those who affirm the doctrines have become convinced of the same truth and so there are some who have left. And perhaps their leaving has called some degree of concern on the part of those remaining. Perhaps they're even being smitten in their consciousness which perhaps are too tender and they want to go out and maybe try to reclaim those who have left. There could be any number of things involved in this but at least a part of the purpose of why John is writing this letter is to assure those who are remaining and who are affirming the truth that there are very clear divisions between those who believe and those who do not. And those who believe can be discerned by certain basic characteristics and those who do not share those characteristics cannot be called Christians. Therefore, while we should have compassion for them as lost men, we should not at all fear that our union is being disrupted because they have left. That is exactly what the truth is intended to perform. John says, so don't be too sorrowful about the split that has come in your ranks. It simply indicates that the truth is still powerful and it indicates that there really is a distinction between the children of light and the children of darkness. If there is not a distinction, then the church has no right to exist. Therefore, he is writing this particular section to encourage those who have abided by the truth, to continue in it, to encourage them to continue the conflict that is a legitimate conflict, both with those things that war against their souls on the inside and those forces that war against the truth on the outside. This first section, in writing to these little children and the fathers and the young men, is written to give some basic characteristics of those who have weathered the storm and who still are standing. Now, some say that these are three different divisions of Christians. There are those who are very young in the faith and there are those who are a little more mature and than those who are fathers. I do not accept that particular division. I think that when he addresses these as little children or as little learners at one time, he is addressing all of them and then he divides them into two sections, those who are older and those who are younger. I would take the two words, technique and pidea that refer to the little children, is referring to all of these for all of us or little children in John's eyes and all of us certainly should be pidea all of our lives, little children who are constantly learning more about the infinite God and the unsearchable riches of the gospel. Therefore, these characteristics that he set forth of the little children are characteristic of all of the church there and they certainly should be things that are characteristic of Christians in any age. Now, what does he say about them before he addresses them as fathers and as young men? Well, in verse 12, he says, I write unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. And then he addresses them again the last part of verse 13, I write unto you little children because you have known the Father. Now, these are two characteristics that each of us should glory in every moment of our Christian life. There is never a time when the Christian should outgrow the absolute marvel of forgiven sin. And when the Christian should outgrow that absolute feeling of filial dependence upon one that we now call Father. For given sin, Father, what was it that so astounded the woman of the well? When she went back in and began to tell the people of the town, what did she say? She said, come see a man who told me everything that I've done. We all need that. You don't have someone who told you everything you've done. You're in bad condition. That's the first point of forgiveness of sin. Someone who will tell you everything you've done. Someone who will lead you down in the deep waters of your sinfulness. Someone who will expose to you that out of your heart proceed all sorts of things that are rebellions against God. And these things that proceed out of the manifest themselves in an innumerable series of events that are sins. When he's someone to tell us everything that we've ever done. When Jesus comes in the power of the Spirit under the preaching of the Word and pricks the heart of the sinner, he should see everything that he's done. He should see himself as hopeless and helpless at the feet of a God who is his judge. Oh, when Paul was giving that marvelous statement of the eternal purposes of God, the eternal purposes of the triune God there in Ephesians 1, and he comes to the work of the Son, he sicknesses in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.
And when he is talking about the nature of the gospel, he says, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. And when Jesus holds out his arm to a world that goes on and deeper and deeper sin, holds out his arms to go through and rejected his miracles and rejected his person. When he holds out his arms in accordance with that sermon that Dr. Beeman so marvelously preached for us last week, and he has said, no one can come to me unless the father draw him. He holds out his arms to those who are heavy laden, those who are burdened, those who want to come and learn of Christ, and why would they want to come and learn of Christ because they realize it in themselves, they know nothing. They realize it in themselves, they are lost and undone, they realize it in themselves, they are sinners. And no one should ever get beyond that great concession. We are but men and we are sinners. Oh, if the greatest concession is ours, the Christ, the son of the living God, the second greatest concession is, woe is me, or I am sinful. John simply assumes this is common ground. He says, I write to you, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. Oh, it's in his power, according to his work, it's according to his character, it's what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. His name reminds us of his person and work. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. It is his power, it is his person, it is his work that brings about forgiveness of sin. Oh, a person who has seen the sinfulness of his own heart will have no problems at all accepting the marvel of grace, that God is gracious when he calls anyone, and he owes none of us anything, and so when his grace reaches down and converts the heart and brings into Christ, it is a marvel of grace, it is not something he owes us. Oh, a person who has seen the sinfulness of his own heart would have no problem understanding the nature of the cross, that Jesus Christ is set there as a propitiation for sin, or anyone who can deny the substitutionary element of the cross has not seen his sinfulness. If he doesn't think that someone needs to die for him, if he doesn't think that someone needs to take the wrath of God for him, he has not seen his sinfulness. Oh, it is common ground, you have no way to talk to a person who claims that he's a Christian, if he's not seen his sinfulness, he cannot understand the divine human nature of this person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, one who has to be divine because only a divine one can take away our sin and can take the wrath that is needed to become the curse for us, but only a human one can pay the debt that needs to be owed because humans are the one who owe this debt to God, and so if a person who has not seen his sinfulness, then he cannot understand the divine human nature of Christ, and he does not see it as a precious doctrine, an doctrine which absolutely cannot be compromised at any point. And so he writes to them because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. It is essential for them to understand I'm writing to you because I'm assuming your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. Now, if your sins are not forgiven, if you do not understand the nature of your sinfulness, then it is understandable why you would be fighting against these orthodox doctrines that must be held. It is understandable why you would reject what those who achieve believers try to maintain with every spot of their soul, with every ounce of their strength, with everything that is in their being, they claim to these because their everlasting life depends upon it. If your sins are not forgiven, I can understand why you so flippantly can pass over these things that are essential, but I'm writing to you. Because those of you who are remaining, those of you who perhaps may be grieving somewhat at these relievings, I'm writing to you because your sins are forgiven. And I'm writing to you because you know the father. You know, when you see your sins, God doesn't immediately appear to you as a father. It appears to you as a judge. Oh, you realize you've been his enemy. You realize you've been rebelling against him. You've been running against the one who has made heaven and earth and all that end him is. You realize you've been running against the one who controls the winds and the waves, the sea, who can make a fish swallow a man and then vomit him up on shore. You've been running against the one who can turn a noble mighty king into a wild animal until he recognizes the sovereignty of God. You recognize you've been running against the one who has now listed off as Prince and Savior to grant repentance to Israel. You realize you've been running against the one who holds you in the palm of his hand. The one upon your whom your life depends from moment to moment, the one who causes you to breathe the next breath. You have been rebelling against the one who holds you very life in his hand. Oh, you realize you're in a dangerous, dangerous position. He does not appear to be father to you. He appears to sovereign, despotic, judge who has the right to do it to you as he pleases. But then, oh, but then, when you find grace in his eyes, when you find forgiveness and when the spirit adopts you into the family of God and you begin to cry from the heart, these cries that were cries of repentance, these cries that were cries of perhaps terror now become abba, father. Oh, when you find favor in the eyes of this one, he is father. Oh, John writes this simply assuming that these are people who know God now as father. They've made that trip into where they cling to this truth that God is father. The second child by his blood, friend, whereas I was enemy, son, whereas I was slave, in light, whereas I walked in darkness, father, father. And when you assume that, when you assume that, you assume that all the things that make that appellation of father pressure, that person would be willing to forsake life itself, then forsake the truth that make God father. So, he assumes that about all of them. And now he says, there are some of you who are older. Oh, excuse me, in 35. Oh, that's an introduction. Well, I'll preach these the next two times, I preach. Oh, quickly. There are some who are older, bingles suggest perhaps to see these are people who knew the Lord Jesus Christ in person as well as in faith. You have known him who is from the beginning. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. It says some things about his person, that which was from the beginning, which we have gazed upon, which we have heard with our ears, which our hands have handled concerning the word of life, who is that? That's Jesus. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was with God and the Word was made flesh and dwells among us. You have known him who is from the beginning. Oh, it speaks about his person. It speaks about they have known him. Perhaps these are some of those that Paul speaks about in 1 Corinthians 15, those 500 that were still alive who had seen the resurrected Lord. Perhaps John is writing to them and the reason he doesn't give them any further admonition is they had seen him. That was enough. You've known him who is from the beginning. That's the right reason I'm writing to you. You know these truths, but it also remains of what was sung about. He's the eternal one. Oh, we praise him for all that he has done, but all that he has done simply is to lead us to the point where we enjoy who he is. We enjoy who he is, the one who is from the beginning. And he writes to the young men. They're strong. These are the ones that have not seen him, but the Word of God lives in them. They've learned about him from the Word of God. They have overcome the wicked one. Have they overcome the wicked one? They've overcome the wicked one in maintaining the truth while there are many who deny it. So don't be alarmed that there are songs who are going away. You have defeated the wicked one and defeating them. Now, also fight against the wicked one as he works within you. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And how is it, John says, I know that you will maintain this because the Word of God is written in your heart. You have an anointing from the Holy One and you need not that any man teach you. That doesn't mean that you don't need someone to teach you Greek and Hebrew. There's no better than that. But when the Word of God written strikes a chord in the manned of the person who has this word written on his heart, he believes it. He believes it. And this is the reason John can be assured that those who remain will not fall away because they have an anointing from the Holy One. And this is the reason that he also makes a condition. If you abide in him, there may be some yet who will go away. If they go away, it simply indicates they do not have an anointing from the Holy One. Well, I close. Why do we have so many that go away? Or perhaps not that go away, but they never come back. Maybe they don't have an anointing from the Holy One. You know, the problem may not be in many of our churches with a lack of follow-up. It may be with a lack of gospel. The problem may not be after you get them decisions, it may be how you got them decisions. The gospel is accompanied with the power of the Spirit. It converts the heart. It forgives sin. It brings men to God as follows. May God grant us grace and strength to abide by His truth. And to love Him above all things, and to walk in truth, and His johnid monasticism in the last of its epistles, to keep ourselves from out of it. That's about the prayer. Lord, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. We pray that we may glory only in the Lord Jesus Christ, because of what is done, and may what He has done lead us to glory in Him, because of who He is. In Jesus' name, amen.