This is our second study from 1st John chapter 2:12-17. In these words John is explaining the Christian
maturity. And we will learn our lesson from these verses for our spiritual
benefit. But we will begin with a true story that happened nearly 4 years ago.
Story:
Once we had an opportunity to visit a family. The
husband was a plumber; and it seems he had taken a lot of loan from many people
and many banks. This man was a good believer; but eventually the pressure of
repayment of loan started increasing. People started coming to his house and
threatening him for paying back their money. And this man was under a
tremendous pressure. Eventually this man committed suicide because he had no
options of repaying the loan and he ended up taking his own life. The family
was struggling and so was his pastor as to how he should counsel this family
because; according to their understanding if a believer commits suicide he
doesn’t enter into heaven but goes to hell. And we were able to encourage this
family through the 1st Epistle of John, that all the sins past,
present and future sins of all the believers are forgiven because of Christ’s
Sacrifice. And I still remember the glow that came on that family’s face. They
were so much comforted by knowing that their father and the husband is not in
hell but in heaven. Not that this was something new but it was there in the
Bible but they lacked the Christian Maturity to understand it.
And John is doing exactly the same in the passage that
we have read; he is making his readers understand the truth of Christian
“The Need for Christian Maturity.”
- The Stages of Christian Maturity: vs. 12-14
- · Childhood: vs. 12, 13b
- · Youth : vs. 13a, 14b
- · Adulthood : vs. 13a, 14a
- The Response to Christian Maturity: vs. 15-17
- · The Command not to love the world: vs. 15a
- · The Consequence of loving the world: vs. 15b
- · The Concept of the world: vs. 16
- · The Character of the world: vs. 17
- The Stages of Christian Maturity: vs. 12-14
After establishing the truth that if we obey only then
we are walking in the light. Otherwise there is no use of claiming to be
walking in the light while disobeying the Lord. Then John outlines the stages
of Christian maturity. From vs. 14, “I am writing to you, little
children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”
I want you to observe these 3 verses carefully.
Because John addresses the children, youths and adults each of those two times.
At the same time John is referring back to a
particular event that took place in the past in his reader’s lives. In this
verse John says, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven
for His Name sake.” Now the reason why John mentions the same (I am
writing to you, I am writing to you) over and over again and refers to the past
event of his reader’s lives; is because he was so certain and confident
of their forgiven state of life.
We are told that John was writing to his spiritual
children. And that’s why he refers to them as little children.
This could be a possibility that; these people had
recently come to faith in Jesus Christ and they were influenced with these
false teachers. And as we have already seen that these people had indulged in various
sinful activities.
And they could have been convicted of their sins and
after this they thought that their sins could not be forgiven and that they
have lost their salvation.
So, through these words John is offering them the
assurance of their sins being forgiven and he is also assuring them of their
eternal security. And we find the reason
in the end of this verse. John says, “...for
His Name’s sake.”
This means if their Salvation was dependent upon their
own works; they could have lost it. But the reason why John adds that important
statement is so that; his readers might know that their salvation is dependent
on what Christ has done; not on what they had done. Therefore they need not be
worried for having lost their salvation.
Secondly, John
also exhorts the other group of believers here. Those were the youths in their
faith. Notice the next part of Vs. 13,
“...I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.”
Then you find almost the same statement in vs.
14, “...I have written you young men, because you are strong and the Word of
God remains in you and you have overcome the evil one...”
This group of believers seems to be between the
children and the fathers/adults. Now the reason why John is addressing these spiritual
youths is because; it’s in the youth every person faces tremendous
temptations and in the face of this temptation John assured the spiritual youth
that they have overcome the evil. But it is interesting to notice in vs. 14
that; before John mentions this statement of overcoming evil he mention the
phrase that, “...the Word of God remains in
you. And it is there for a reason. Because though these youths had a
tremendous strength. It was not because of their strength they had overcome the
evil but because the Word of God that remains in them.
Vs. 13
says, “I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the
beginning...” Thirdly, John addresses fathers in this verse; in
other words he addresses the adults in faith saying that they have known Jesus
Who was from the beginning. The reason is because; the false teachers taught
that we need to have some sort of a secret knowledge in order to know God. And
these adults were confused whether they truly had known God through Jesus or
not. Because the false teachers had also taught that we cannot know God through
Jesus Christ; because Jesus didn’t come into this world; since God is
completely holy and man is completely sinful; therefore God cannot take the help
of a sinful human being to come into this world. At the same time John is
assuring them that even though they haven’t seen Jesus Christ personally they
do have knowledge of Him.
But through these words John is attacking these false
teachers and assuring the adults of their knowledge of God.
Application:
We all as Christians suffer the same problems devil throws at us. Particularly when we had first come to Christ we all seem to wonder whether our sins are forgiven or not. Whether will I sin or will I not sin; and if I sin will I be forgiven, will I be restored? These are all questions bother many believers to a great extent. After John Wesley had been preaching for some time, some one said to him, "Are you sure, Mr. Wesley, of your salvation?" "Well," he answered, "Jesus Christ died for the whole world." "Yes, we all believe that; but are you sure that you are saved?" Wesley replied that he was sure that provision had been made for his salvation."But are you sure, Wesley, that you are saved?" It went like an arrow to his heart, and he had no rest or power until that question was settled. Many men and many women go on month after month, and year after year, without power, because they do not know their standing in Christ; they are not sure of their own footing for eternity. Latimer wrote Ridley once that when he was settled and steadfast about his own salvation he was as bold as a lion, but if that hope became eclipsed he was fearful and afraid and was disqualified for service. Many are disqualified for service because they are continually doubting their own salvation.
Many people long to have some kind of a feeling of
being saved, and are not willing to trust the objective word of God for the
assurance of their Salvation.
- Our Response to the Christian Maturity: vs. 15-17
After assuring the believers in vs. 12 -14 about the forgiveness of their
sins, about overcoming evil and about knowing God. John calls the believers to
a greater task in vs. 15-17. The whole purpose of these verses is that: if you
know your sins have been forgiven then you must behave in a certain manner. If
you have known God or if you have overcome evil then you must respond to it
with a particular manner. And the first command John states in these words is:
- The Command not to love the world: vs. 15a
Notice vs. 15a,
“Don't love the world, neither the things that are in the world...” Basically
the Bible uses world in 3 different ways. 1. Physical World: it means God’s creation; the material creation of
God 2. The World applied to the people
living in the universe; the mankind. 3. The
evil people living in the world. Those who live without any sense of
morality. These people show through their lives their evil way of life.
Now basically what John is saying is: do not be
worldly and claim your faith in Christ at the same time. In this verse John is
commanding his readers not to love the wickedness or the evil that’s in the
world. The reason why John commands this is because: Loving world and loving
God at the same time is not possible. You either love God or you love the
world. You cannot love both at the same time. Until then many people were
living their lives in worldliness and were still calling themselves Christians.
- The Consequence of loving the world: vs. 15b
Notice the next part of the verse, “...If
anyone loves the world, the Father's love isn't in him.” Vs. 15b
In plain words this is what John is saying. If a man
loves the world, it shows that he has no true love for God. If he loves the
world and lives his life for it; and if the world is the ruling principle of
his life it is evident that his heart was never renewed in the first place. Jesus
put it very simple for us to understand in Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two
masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be
devoted to one and despise the other. You can't serve both God and Mammon.”
- The Concept of the World: vs. 16
The third thing that John does in these verses is, he
gives the understanding of what the world is. In other words he gives the
concept of the world. Notice vs. 16, “For all that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn't the
Father's, but is the world's.”
The word lust in Greek language is: (epithumeo) this word denotes both
positively and negatively. In this verse it means negatively. What John is
saying is those who have excessive craving for sexual desire . At the
same time he is also describing the people who always seeking for such a
relationship.
And finally the pride of life. The word pride here means
boasting. Boasting about having the world’s riches and then having arrogance
about it.
In summary what John is saying is: all the above
things do not come from the Father but they come from the world. and those
people who habitually practice them never turn from them are not of the Father
but are of the world.
- The Characteristic of the World: vs. 17
Notice vs. 17,
“And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the
will of God abides forever.”
In this verse John describes the characteristic of the
evil world. And the main characteristic is that: the evil world is passing away
with its desires. In other words John is saying this world is temporary in
nature; it’s not going to last long. But contrary to that he who does the will
of God abides forever. In other words that person lives forever. The question
is: what is the will of God? We find the answer to it in 1 John 3:23, “This is his
commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and
love one another, even as he commanded.”
Application:
Let’s think about a dehydrated baby. This baby has all its body very weak and lean; but its head is very big. All I want to say to you this morning. Is the Bible teaching in the Church making you spiritually healthy people? Or are you just happy being in the chair for two hours? Are you craving for more spiritual food from the Word of God? Do you have the desire to know God deeply? Do have the desire to love Him the way He deserved to be loved?
When we are born again we are born into the family of God. We crave for pure milk as Peter tells us. But my question is have we stop growing in our spiritual lives?
A story is told about how an eagle builds the nest.
Though many of us have seen pictures of a huge eagle's nest high in the branches of a tree or in the crag of a cliff, few of us have gotten a glimpse inside. When a mother eagle builds her nest she starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project. But then she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs. By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of the nest and the luxury of free meals make them quite reluctant to leave. That's when the mother eagle begins "stirring up the nest." With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more of the bedding gets plucked up, the nest becomes more uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually, this and other urgings prompt the growing eagles to leave their once-comfortable abode and move on to more mature behaviour.
The simple test of our maturity is; if once coming to faith are we loving the world more or loving Christ more? You don’t need to tell me the answer. Let this be between you and God.
Another simple truth is: you will become mature if you are born into God’s family. If you are not born into God’s family; then you cannot become matured. Then only way to become matured is if we are born again. Have you been born again? Have you been born from above? Have you repented of your sins? If not today is the day and now is the time.
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