One of the things that blesses my heart is how God has more for us, day by day. We are supposed to grow up and mature. When God saves you, He begins a work in your life that continues until the day you see Him face to face. Spiritual growth is the normal Christian life.
I often remind our church, “Believers grow up.” I’m not saying, “Believers, grow up,” as though God is frustrated with you. I’m simply sharing the biblical truth and joy of being able to grow up even farther than we are today. Believers grow. If you continue in the Word, remain in fellowship with other believers, worship the Lord, and develop a consistent prayer life, you will grow. You may wish it happened faster. You may become discouraged by the weaknesses you still see. Don’t lose heart. God is still working.
Growth doesn’t happen without opposition. Every believer knows what it feels like to wrestle with the flesh. The battle is real.
Galatians 5:17 (NKJV) “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
There are days when the battle seems relentless. The enemy is constantly throwing lies your way, waiting for you to believe just one. He wants you to believe you’re not changing. He wants you to question whether God has given up on you. He wants you to focus on your failures rather than on God’s faithfulness. Don’t believe those lies. Spiritual maturity takes time. The Lord is patient with you, and He is committed to finishing the work He started.
God also calls us to participate in our own growth.
2 Peter 1:5–7 (NKJV) “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
Peter says, “giving all diligence.” Spiritual growth deserves your attention. Spend time in the Word. Spend time in prayer. Stay close to God’s people. Keep saying yes to what the Lord is teaching you.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that some believers had remained spiritual infants when they should have been growing into maturity. It’s a strong word designed to shake up the complacent and stir up faith.
John describes this growth in a beautiful way.
1 John 2:12–14 (NKJV) He speaks of little children, young men, and fathers.
Little children know their sins are forgiven and they know the Father. What a wonderful place to begin. If you’re a newer believer, or perhaps you’ve struggled in your walk with the Lord, rest in those two truths. Your sins are forgiven. You know the Father. Build your life on those promises.
Then John speaks to the young men.
Twice he says, “You have overcome the wicked one.”
This is often the season when spiritual warfare becomes very real. The enemy attacks your marriage, your purity, your thought life, and your commitment to Jesus. Yet God says you have overcome. The victory was secured through Jesus Christ. You’re learning how to walk in it every day.
John also explains why they were overcoming.
“You are strong, and the word of God abides in you.”
I often encourage people to stay in the Word. John gives us an even greater picture. God’s Word lives in you. As His Word fills your heart, it shapes your thinking, directs your decisions, and strengthens your faith. God’s voice becomes familiar because you’re spending time listening to Him.
Finally, John writes to the fathers. He repeats the same truth both times. “You have known Him who is from the beginning.”
After years of walking with the Lord, after victories and failures, after seasons of joy and seasons of grief, the greatest treasure is still the same. You know Him. A mature believer treasures that relationship above everything else.
Maybe today you feel weak. I want to remind you of something that is true whether you feel it or not.nYou are strong in the Lord. Your sins have been forgiven. God has not abandoned you. He goes before you. He walks beside you. He stands behind you. He knows every detail of your life, and He loves you completely. Believers grow up. By God’s grace, that’s exactly what He’s doing in your life.
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Unedited Transcription
Amen. Amen.
Open your Bibles. 1 John chapter 2. We’re going to pick up where we left off last time. 1 John chapter 2. I’ve entitled our Bible study, Believers Grow Up. Believers Grow Up.
Now with the different emphasis on the words, the title can sound differently. So I read it the way I intended. I shared it the way I intended. Believers Grow Up. But you could also read this with some attitude of Believers Grow Up. And that’s really not God’s heart. Like you will grow up in the things of the Lord. As you follow the Lord, as you’re an Acts 2:42 Christian, continuing steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayer. I want you to know you will grow up and you are growing up. Even if it’s not as fast as you want or it’s not as quick as you want or you see so many of your weaknesses, you will grow up.
There’s a wonderful hymn that came to mind in a Sunday school song that’s been around the church since the year 1865. It’s sung year after year, reminding the believer of the spiritual battle that they’re in as you grow up. And as I’m reading the lyrics of one of the stanzas, it’ll be familiar to many of you. It goes like this.
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war. With the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ, the royal master, leads against the foe. Forward into battle. See his banners go.
And it won’t take long for you to agree that the battle that is spiritual among us is for real. Have you felt it yet? Have you seen it in your life? I mean, every day there is a battle for our progress. Even if it’s the internal battle in Galatians chapter five, verse 17, the flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. The two are contrary to one another so that you don’t do the things that you wish. This is especially true when the enemy attacks your mind, feeding you doubt upon doubt on whether you are saved or not. This is something we looked in depth in our last study.
Maturity and growth takes time and it doesn’t come without a spiritual battle. To the degree, really, that you stand fast in the Lord, as we’ll learn in Ephesians 6, and fight the good fight, will be directly related to the type of spiritual growth that you and I enjoy. I need to grow as a Christian. I need to learn to follow Jesus in my life and in my actions and in my obedience.
In our prayer group today, we were praying about men and the topic of being a better dad and being a better brother and being a better husband, being a better single, every aspect of men and women for that matter, although the focus today was for our men, every aspect of our lives. God wants us to grow up in. And as far as we think we are today, there are still more. There’s still spiritual growth for every single believer listening to me, whether you are 100 years old or one year old in the Lord.
Turn over, would you, to 2 Peter. Hold your place in 1 John. We’ll get there eventually. But turn over to 2 Peter. That’s going to be to the left. Chapter 1. And we see this said a different way. Believers grow up. Believers have a responsibility in their own spiritual growth.
Notice what Peter says in 2 Peter 1, pick up in verse 5. Peter says, but also for this very reason, look at the phrase, giving all diligence means you really pay attention with great effort, add to your faith. To virtue, knowledge. Verse six, to knowledge, self-control. To self-control, perseverance. To perseverance, godliness. To godliness, brotherly kindness. To brotherly kindness, love. Verse eight, for if these things are yours and abound, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even the blindness, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sense. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things, you will never stumble.
There’s a sense of growing up that God wants us to do in our relationship with him. Jot this one down, Hebrews 5, verse 12. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. And you have come to need milk and not solid food. Everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
Now, now, a babe could be better translated a baby, a baby spiritually. Think of yourself like think of what your first response is. If the Bible says there is a possibility that you’re a baby in Christ, it could be rather you could take that offensively if you’re not careful. But all it is is describing your current condition. If this is your life by now, you should know this, but you don’t. So now I’m going to instruct you because Paul says you’re like a baby. And I need to stop, slow down, feed you like a baby because solid food belongs to those who are full age. That is those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Paul, I believe the author of Hebrews, Jesus, Peter, the theme throughout the scriptures is God wants us to grow up. And the description of being young in the faith, that’s not a bad description. Even if you’ve been walking with the Lord for a while, if there is a sense where you and I need to grow up, the best response is for us to grow up.
And now in 1 John, come back to where we left off in verse 12. We see three levels in this next section of spiritual growth. And if you’re taking notes, I’ll give them to you up front right away. Number one, you see the baby Christian crawl is what I call it. You’re going to see that first stage of your walk with the Lord. And then secondly, he’s going to describe a normal walk. And then thirdly, he’s going to describe a growing mature walk. So a baby crawling, a normal walking, and then a growing maturity in your walk.
So we’re going to cut the verses. We’re going to put them together here in verse 12 through verse 14. Notice in verse 12, I write to you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. And then go to chapter verse 13 in the last part. I write to you little children because you have known the father. I write to you little children because you have known the father.
When John wrote this, he had been walking with the Lord for 70, seven zero plus years. And yet he still kept a tender heart. He uses the word to describe a child, young in age, technia, referring to his audience as young children. He’s caring for them. And he’s calling them, hey, look, little children, like young ones or babies. He’s talking to a group of people in verse 12 that are young in age, and then the word he uses in verse 13 is a little different. This is a word that describes young in experience. So it definitely describes the new believer. He’s writing to the new believer.
Now, new believers don’t necessarily mean that you were born again yesterday or within the year. I have found that if you don’t seek to grow in the things of God, you can stay stunted in your spiritual growth for a long time. You can find yourself a newer believer for much longer than you need to. That’s what Paul was addressing with the Hebrews. They’re like, you guys, by now, by now, you guys should be growing up and eating a little bit deeper than drinking milk. But because you still need, I’ll take it down a notch, help you so we can all get to the next level together.
So don’t be offended when someone may refer to you as a baby Christian. It’s not a negative statement. Now, I’m not saying that someone might not use it negatively, but in general, it’s not a negative statement. It is describing the place you are in your walk with the Lord. A baby Christian is someone that’s new. Someone that’s learning and growing. Maybe you don’t know the Bible. Maybe you don’t even know the books of the Bible yet. And for many, many months, I would use the table of contents in my Bible. I didn’t know what the books of the Bible were. I didn’t even know Job was called Job. I thought it was Job. I literally did. There was so much I didn’t know. And to refer to me in those seasons as a baby Christian, I was. I was crawling along. Crawling though makes progress. I mean, that’s a good thing. Make some progress in your walk with the Lord. Dive in, do a little bit more, add to your faith. These are all good things. As a baby Christian you are young and have a lot to learn. Don’t be offended by it. Accept it.
This happens in other areas of life too. Not just as a believer, but like if you’re starting something new, you’re starting to serve, you’re starting to serve. You’ve never done this before. You might be invited to lead. You’re starting to lead. You’ve never done this before. Like it’s okay to give yourself some patience as those around you will give you some patience to grow up. But the worst thing to do is to roll into something going, I already know everything. I already know it all. All right, well, let me just stand back for a little bit and watch you fall because it’s going to be very difficult for a know-it-all to learn anything.
God always has, you know, when you’re stepping into ministry, you’re stepping into serving. Remember, there’s always two parts to it. Number one, God is using you to help others in the ministry. He’s helping you grow them and lead them and teach them and love them and serve them. Yes, yes, yes. But also on the other side of that, God is using the ministry to grow you up and to teach you, and to put before you things that will stir up in you a dependence upon the Lord.
But as you are perhaps older in age, it becomes harder to accept when you make mistakes. It becomes harder to accept. There’s a lot of blaming and deflecting and all you’re trying to express is this sense of, you know, I’m old, I should know these things by now, but I don’t want anybody to know that I don’t know these things. And you get wrapped up with pride.
And the best place to serve pride in any capacity, this is at work. I mean, think of you guys have 30 years in work and you got these young guys that just started and it would be very easy for you to take a position of pride with those that are just starting in the job that you started in 30 years if you forget that you once started in that job. Like hopefully you’re more mature in 30 years later, but not to have patience with those that are younger that need your wisdom and instead just being mad at them all the time and upset with them.
I mean, think of in the example of a baby in itself. I mean, babies, they need a lot of help in those early years. They need everything. They are 100% dependent. For you to be upset at a baby for being 100% dependent upon you is just wrong, right? There’s just no reason for that. I can’t believe you’re screaming. Tell me what you want. Like, what are they going to do? They don’t know language. They can’t tell you. They know how to scream. So they’re doing it. That’s what they’re doing. And I can’t believe it. You went doo-doo in your diapers again. I’m one month old. You know, it’s like, what else are they going to do in the body of Christ?
It’s very similar. I’m writing you little children and I want to remind you in that stage, the thing to really focus on in the early stages of your walk with the Lord is to develop a habit of remembering your sins are forgiven you. Don’t forget ever, but especially in the early days. That you are in relationship with God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Your sins are forgiven. That is so common. It keeps coming up. It keeps coming up because you keep sinning. And you and I, we need to remember that our sins are forgiven. Why? For his namesake. You have been saved for the purposes of God. Very good thing to remember as a newer believer.
And then in verse 13 says, he says, I’m writing to you little children because you have known the father. Two very important truths to know as a new believer. You know God and your sins are forgiven. Just bank on that. Just spend time on that. You’re opening up the Bible and you’re reading. He’s like, oh, I don’t understand. What does this mean in Genesis chapter six about the Nephilim? Open up chapter six and go, man, I can’t believe it. God has helped me understand his Bible and he loves me and I know him. And then you can just set the Nephilim aside for a while.
And then some of you are going, what is that? And Genesis chapter six, you can read it for yourself. There’s a startling passage there. It’s not the first one. It won’t be the last one. But don’t let it distract you from the fact that you know God and your sins are forgiven. You know God and your sins are forgiven. That’s what’s going to help you propel forward, make the progress. Oh yes, Lord. Grace and mercy. Grace and mercy to know you personally.
You need to keep at the forefront of your life an appreciation that your sins are being forgiven. All of them. You need to know that you are forgiven, grounded in grace, not because of your works, not because of your good deeds, not because you’ve improved yourself, not because you’re better than you were before you were saved. None of the behaviors. God loves you in Christ. And he’s working in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.
The Bible declares over all of our lives. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. You are washed and cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. That is going to carry you all the way into eternity. It’s never going to stop. It’s going to continue no matter where you are. He’s washed away your guilt. He’s washed away your shame. You are justified and he’s declared you righteous before the Father for his namesake. He has a plan for your life, a purpose. What do we learn in Ephesians? Before the even foundation of the world, he chose you. God is working in your life. Little children, don’t forget that. That’s the early stages. Not only are your sins forgiven, but you know him. And it’s amazing to grasp that, the creator of the universe.
Notice the next stage. You go from the baby Christian crawl to a normal walk. He says in verse 13, in the beginning, I write to you, in the second part there, I write to you young men. And I had these all underlined so I could keep track of them because of the order. But we’ll go back and read them at the end all the way through. But notice the next phrase that we want to draw attention to in the B part, the second part of verse 13. I write to you young men because you have overcome the wicked one. I have written to you down in verse 14 at the end, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the wicked one.
So we go from little children to young men, little children to young men. Now notice what he says twice now. He says, you’ve overcome the wicked one, verse 13. And then verse 14, you’ve overcome the wicked one. I think John is trying to tell the believers something. He’s saying in this next stage, when you’re growing up into maturity, you’re going to face a lot of the wicked one. There’s going to be a lot of the wicked one going after you, going after your marriage, going after your thoughts, going after your purity, going after your loyalty. You name it, whatever you treasure, whatever important to you, whatever you’ve offered to the Lord on the altar, he is going to go after that. And as we’ve learned before, distract, distract, distract, distract, destroy. He’s going to go right after it.
Yet, what does the Bible say? The Bible says you have overcome. You have overcome. One of the angles with spiritual warfare I think we make the mistake of is we focus too much on the warfare and not enough on the victory. There’s a lot of fighting, for sure. There’s a lot about it, even today. Some of you, if we share testimony every midweek study, how hard it was for you to get here. How hard it was. Just the weirdest stuff. Late night, you know, flat tire, late work, whatever. Just so much to get you away. Not even just, wait, I don’t want to go to church. Like, you never think that. Today you did. And you fought through it. No, I don’t want to go. It’s too cold. What do you mean it’s too cold? It was colder on Sunday. You weren’t here either. Like now the enemy’s fighting you. You’re like, what do you mean? You got all these reasons, but you made a commitment. You’re like, I’m going to press into the things of God. I’m going to pray for someone this week. And all of a sudden the enemy throws all of this.
But here’s the thing. Victory is yours by faith in Jesus Christ over anything and everything you’re facing right now. It’s yours. It’s already yours. Yeah, but it’s so hard. I didn’t say it wasn’t hard. I said victory is yours. Yeah, but it’s been with me since I was a child. I didn’t say it hasn’t been with you. I’m just telling you the victory is yours.
And the pathway, according to Ephesians 6, uses the word wrestle. In Luke 13, he uses the word strive. In John 18, the word fight is used. I mean, these are words that are like hand-to-hand combat. Like, it’s going to be hard. It’s going to be difficult. But here’s the thing. God doesn’t place baby Christians on the front lines. He gives grace and time to grow. He holds you back almost to give you some time to grow up, does things for you, helps lead you and maybe turns you away to the left or to the right. But the Christian that’s seeking the things of God is no playmate and no pal and no friend of the forces of darkness. And even though God guards the baby Christian, eventually, little by little, he’ll allow trials to come into your life to strengthen your faith and to deepen your relationship with him.
I saw this as we were raising our kids. I knew that they would live a different life than my wife and I lived in the homes we grew up in. They would have purposely have be guarded by us from a lot of the sin that we weren’t guarded from, that we just lived in, man, and just went for it. However, they’re going to grow up in a world that’s going to be worse than the world we grew up in. And I remember making a conscious decision. I don’t remember if it was from the text or some Bible study I heard. I don’t really remember. I do remember though, like I got this thought, I believe it was from the Lord that I need to help my kids transition into the world. Like I need to tell them at age appropriate levels of the things they’re going to face in the world so that when they’re 18 or 19, they just don’t get it all in one shot and don’t know what to do with it. Which included a lot of our own personal testimony.
I’ve shared this before, but I’ve been very open with our kids at age-appropriate levels of what their mom and dad were into, mostly their dad, but the types of things that they know, where we’ve come from, what God has done in our lives, the miracles, they didn’t experience it, they weren’t there. Just get the benefits of it, but I don’t want them just to enjoy the benefits. I want them to know what God has done from firsthand account. I don’t want to read it in a book. I don’t want them to think about it. I don’t want their, I don’t want to even want their minds to be like curious about it at every stage. I wanted to show them, you know, this is what happened and this is what we did. And this is, you know, especially my oldest son being the son of a teenage pregnancy. Like I want him to know how it all went down and what happened and all the things that happened so he knows just how special he is. In the eyes of the Lord. Just how important it was.
You see, that’s how God does with us. He gives us what we can handle in him. Now we can go off and, oh, I’m good and I’m strong enough. And you know, like perhaps you have a, you are a partier, right? And now you’ve been walking with the Lord for a while. Well, you know, I can go back into the bars and I’ll be okay. Until you go back into the bar and find out you’re not okay. Like God has been telling you, don’t go back. Don’t go back. Bible studies. Don’t go back. Don’t go back. But you get it in your mind. I think I’m strong enough. I’m just going to go share the gospel with my old buddies there. And I’ll just have one beer. And before you know it, you’re back in jail from a DUI.
The Lord told you not to go there. He’s protecting you. He’s guarding you until you’re old enough to understand in the Lord. You won’t go back yourself. You can find yourself in places because you have the ability to make those choices, but God will lead you along the way. Some places you may have permission to go back to, but perhaps some places you’ll never go back to ever again. The Lord said no.
You see, as a church, in the fight, the young men overcame. Because in the church, we are not fighting for victory. This is not our battle to fight. It’s not dependent upon us. The battle has already been fought and won, decided some 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ said from the cross, it is. Is finished. We’re learning Colossians that the enemy has been defeated.
Now, here’s a tool. You want to live an overcoming life. What does that look like? Here’s a tool and a little hint of what it looks like. Notice back in verse 14. I’ve written to you young men, it’s at the end there, because you are strong in what? Mark this, the word of God abides in you. That is the place of victory. The Bible will never lead you astray. Pastors will make mistakes. I might say something wrong. You might hear something, but the Bible will never lead you astray. As you abide in the word, you are safe and you are secure.
And as the men are going to find out shortly, there’s so much wisdom on how to live your life in the Bible. There’s so much to learn about the character and nature of God, of who he is and how he wants what’s best for you. And he tells you straight out, the overcoming life, John says, is tethered to the word of God. You’re strong because the word is in you.
I like the language here because we often emphasize, I know I do and I will, I won’t stop, but I often emphasize being in the word, right? I do, I emphasize that. I get in the word, read a Bible every day, pray every day, be in the word. But notice John says, the strength that you have is that the word of God is in you. Now, of course, that could be a real easy application of memorizing the Bible. Psalm 119, David says that I’ve hidden your word in my heart that I might not send against you.
But I also think it has something to do, especially in our modern day Western culture, where this is more than just being students of the Bible. This is more than just knowing Greek words as valuable as they are. It’s more important than knowing Hebrew words as valuable as they are. What John is saying is that your greatest strength is when God’s word is in you, because when it’s in you, it will come out of you. Like to me, that’s it. Like he’s not going to be on the, at the end of service today, we’re going to give you a Greek test and you got to pass the Greek test. And that makes you a good Christian. Like you can forget every single Greek word I’ve ever mentioned, but if you love your neighbor, you’re in. I mean, what else do you have? You serve your neighbor. You love them in Jesus’ name. You point them to the Lord. You serve them in Jesus’ name. That’s it. That’s where the meat’s at. That’s where power is. You overcome because the word of God abides in you.
God’s word is God’s voice. You know how sometimes you’ll hear, it’s like, I just don’t feel like I’m hearing from the Lord. I’m hearing from the Lord. And I’m like, well, here’s the answer. Open your Bible and read it and you will hear from the Lord. Every single time, right now, I write to you little children because your sins are forgiven. You have heard from the Lord because that’s what the text says. Your sins have been forgiven.
Like I wonder today, just, and even on the radio, listening live right now, or on a podcast some other time, how that word, that phrase, that truth from God, that reminder of your sins being forgiven is helping to loosen the shame of a past sin. It’s just the truth of God’s word. That’s all it is. Your sins are forgiven. Yeah, but you know, I’m not a baby Christian, but you were. And maybe that’s even how the sin occurred. You were a baby Christian. Maybe it has nothing to do with you. Someone sinned against you and you’re carrying the weight and pain of that. Okay, well, the Bible says your sins are forgiven. Now it changes. Now it becomes, do you believe it? Because if you believe it, it’s yours. If you don’t believe it, it’s elusive. And you keep battling. Then as you’re in warfare, I don’t know. I don’t know if God loves me. I don’t even know if my sins are forgiven. Here’s the Bible. Your sins are forgiven you. You don’t need to worry about that. You don’t need to, that’s an attack of the enemy. You’ve overcome, why? Because the word of God abides in you. Don’t need to worry about that one. Your sins are forgiven.
They came, the devil comes to Jesus and tries to tempt him. And what does Jesus say? It is written. He clung to the written word and pointed us to the written word. The danger, of course, is that we forget that the Bible is a means to an end. The Bible is a means to an end. It’s a powerful tool that God uses to bring us closer to Jesus, closer to his likeness, closer to his character. How easy it can be, especially in a Bible believing, Bible teaching, verse by verse, in the word all the time, answering with the word all the time, with all the word getting into us that we think we’re just gaining knowledge so we can win at Bible trivia. Or we can post that answer on social media because I know the scriptures. I know the scriptures.
What’s more important than knowing the scriptures is knowing the God of the scriptures. It’s him talking to you. You don’t want to just know what he said. You want to know him. And that’s what he said earlier, didn’t he? You know the father and the word of the father abides in you. We’re really not just learning things for Bible trivia. We’re not just trying to wreck people on social media. God has put us on this earth to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. That’s where the word of God has taken you.
We don’t fight for victory. We fight from victory. Every time we read the scriptures, we see the victory that we’re walking in and living in in Christ Jesus, which leads us to the last point today in this section. We go from the baby Christian crawl to the normal general work of the Lord. And then finally, we have this element of growing maturity. We see that there in verse 13. In the first part, I write to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning. And then again, in verse 14, I’ve written to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning.
So not much changes when you’re making progress in the things of the Lord. What’s important as a new believer is important when you’re older, that you know the Father, that you know the Father. You know, Jesus, he is always referring to the Father. Always pointing us to the Father. And the normal progress for a believer is to grow up in the Lord. Little by little, but into maturity. Little children, young men and women, fathers.
The important idea today from this section that John’s writing. To a church and a group of believers that are being ripped off by false teaching. In John’s day, the popular false teaching for this group were the Gnostics. But in our day, we get hit all over the place. We’re getting hit with all kinds of interesting ideas and thoughts. And sometimes we get hit by them. Sometimes we go down the rabbit hole of YouTube. But if you don’t singularly seek the Lord, you’re going to pay the price for it. The enemy is going to get you and trip you.
As a father, as a mature, overseeing, like a father implies you’re raising other children. A father, the idea of fatherhood is that you’re raising baby Christians so you’re a part of the process of other young believers to grow up. That’s the will of the father for our church is that we’re all helping one another grow up in the process of discipleship. But the idea is progress.
In 2 Corinthians, in chapter 18, it says, but we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. And the same thing that’s commended in the fathers is commended in the little children. You have known him. Despite all the obstacles… The mature believer clings to his or her personal relationship with the Father through his son, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. This will get you through the worst of circumstances, to know the Father. This will get you through the worst crisis. This will get you through when the bottom falls out, when you don’t know what’s next. This will get you through the sleepless nights, through the challenges, through all the feelings, through the traumas and pains. This will get you through to talk to someone or pray with someone that you know that God loves you, that what you’ve experienced is not God’s heart for your life.
He did not want to see. He didn’t create the world to be wrecked by sin. Adam and Eve were not even told exactly how much time they enjoyed in the garden, but what Adam and Eve enjoyed is what the world will be restored to one day. The kingdom with King Jesus ruling and reigning. But in between, there’s a battle and there’s a warfare. There’s the consequence of other people’s sin. There’s a consequence of our sin. We live in a world that hates God. John says, filled with Antichrist, not just capital A, as we who love prophecy will often focus on, but there’s something greater than those that love prophecy, capital A, Antichrist. He says, right now, many Antichrists are in the world. It doesn’t take long to see that. Antichrist, those that are against Christ. Antichrist, those that are replacing Jesus. That has been from the very beginning of sin.
And the truth is, the more you exercise your faith, the more you’ll see growth in the things of the Spirit. The more the Word of God abides in you, the more victory you’ll enjoy. And all along the way, a battle’s raging. There’s always something new, but you’re growing up. You’re not fighting the battle like you were when you were a baby. You’re growing up. You’re learning. You’re making mistakes, learning from your mistakes. You’re like, oh, that’s a new one. But what? You’re not trying to figure out every aspect of spiritual warfare. And you know what you’re doing? You’re enjoying the father. And while the father’s around, he’s your protector, right? And he’s taking care of things you don’t even know he’s taking care of. He’s handling things you didn’t even know he was handling. Protecting you from things you didn’t even know he was protecting you. Why? Because you’re in the Father.
You’re abiding in Christ. The vine, in the vine dresser, taking care of us, bearing fruit, being that tree like we’re learning as all these studies come together. We’re like a tree that’s planted by the rivers of water. We’re not all over the place. We’re not being transplanted here and transplanted here. No, whatever comes our way, whatever storm comes our way, whatever difficulty comes our way, we are there because we didn’t set up a plan, but because we know the father loves us and we trust him.
And we’re all lost and don’t know what to do. And we’ve been taught, and I have the privilege of teaching you, that when you come up against something you just don’t understand, and it’s so overwhelming, the temptation is to try to figure it out and try to get it fixed and try to eliminate it so you have a peace restored to you. But we’ve always been taught when there’s something you don’t understand, you fall back on the things that you do understand. And the things that we do understand, we understand that God loves us. That he loves us so much he sent his only begotten son to die for us. One of the truths we fall back on is that we’re saved, that our sins are forgiven, that he’s gotten us through at least one trial. I mean, I look back, there’s probably so many things he’s gotten me through that I don’t even remember them all, but there’s a few big ones that he’s gotten me through and that he’s getting me through. I remember that.
I may not know what’s happening right now. It may be confusing and it may be, I don’t know, but I do know that I’m not gonna throw away everything I know about God just because I’m having a hard time today. I’m going to cling to him. I’m going to be in his word. I’m going to stay in his word till he gets me out of it. I’m going to stay in his word till he gives me clarity. I’m going to stay in his word and in prayer. And again, you know, I’m sharing this in my own life as if I do it perfectly. I don’t do it perfectly, but it is my heart. And I think God knows your heart, knows my heart. And he’s like, okay, give yourself to him today. You got something that’s overwhelming and clouding your vision and you don’t quite see. Okay. Okay.
Don’t throw away everything you’ve already experienced. Don’t just toss it away like, man, this is so hard. I can’t believe a God of love would do such. No, no, just set that aside for a second. You’re most likely speaking out of pain and hurt. Just set that aside. We’ll get to that question when you’re healed up and see things clearly again. And we’ll talk about that God of love. And we’ll talk about the God who restores, has a heart of reconciliation, the God that forgives, the God that cares, the God that helps, the God that serves.
Imagine God, our God, would see dirty feet and gird himself with a towel and stoop down to wash your dirty feet. Don’t forget that. He’s given the greatest. You’re struggling with being a servant right now. I can’t believe it. Nobody appreciates me. Nobody cares. You remember Jesus. Washing dirty feet. King of kings and Lord of lords. He could have told him, you do it. You do it. You do it. You do it. That’s not what he did. He gave an example. Why? He cares for you.
When the word of God abides in you, all these things flood your heart. It’s like, I know it’s hard right now. I’m just going to say it right here and I’m going to remember. I’m going to recall. We don’t want to be like the children of Israel in the wilderness, do we, where we forgot his good works, Psalm 106? Because you start forgetting God’s good works, you’re going to end up getting your requests, but God sends leanness into your soul. Nobody wants that, amen? Nobody wants that. We want the fullness of all that God has for us in these last days so we can grow up and help others grow up too, amen?
Lord, thank you for your word. It’s powerful and beautiful. And as we just think about your goodness, it doesn’t erase the pain, no. We’ve got these wounds and scars, yes. And it doesn’t erase the things we’re currently going through. But it does remind us of hope. And it does remind us of, like we said with the rocks, thus far the Lord has helped us. Yes, thus far. You brought us to every stage.
So as we read here today in this text, and we’re encouraged by the progression, God, of this spiritual growth, this simple direction of spiritual growth, and we learn, God, of your great love for us, we’re able to appreciate. I write to you little children because your sins are forgiven for his namesake. 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. I’ve written to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning. I’ve written to you young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you. You have overcome the wicked one.
I just pray that over our church right now. I sense that word is so important that just you are strong, church. You are strong in the Lord. You are strong in the power of his might. You are strong in the measure of faith he has given you. You are strong in the never-ending supply of grace and mercy poured out on your lives. You are strong because your sins have been forgiven you. You are strong because God fights on your behalf and he gives clarity in confusion and he clears things up and he goes before you and he is behind you and he knows all things and still loves you. You are strong, church. Just think some need to hear that. They feel so weak, but they are so strong.
Lord, I pray for those feelings so weak that you would bring their feelings up to the truth that they are strong. Not like a prideful thing, but just… start to dissipate that sense of feeling so weak. And those that are physically weak, you know, hospital, recovery, sick, battling, you know, chronic disease and different, like in the physical strength, I just think of that phrase, that truth in your word, that the joy of the Lord is my strength. That you will restore joy, God. The joy of our salvation.
So bless your church tonight. Pour out your spirit upon us, Lord, that we might grow and just one little thing tonight or two or three would take us from glory to glory in Jesus’ name. Amen.
