Navigating Sin and Forgiveness: A Discussion on 1 John

Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.

My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.

I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.

Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.

All right, we're going to go ahead and start our Bible study here this evening.

If you have your Bibles, turn there with me to First John, First John, Chapter two.

We have gone over so far the first ten verses of the book of First John.

And what we've learned so far is that the book of First John is speaking directly to the believer and the relationship that the believer has with the Lord.

And we know that through the first chapter.

It talks about how we can have the same testimony as the writer here, the Apostle John, and how we can know that we have fellowship with the Lord through Jesus Christ and we can walk in the light.

And he talks about, if we say we have no sin, verse 8, we deceive ourselves.

So saying that sinlessness is never going to be the reality.

But ultimately, what we can do is we can strive to live a life of holiness and righteousness.

And verse nine, he tells us what to do when we do fall.

If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And so what we can tell in the first chapter is this, the Christian walking with Christ, though he or she will stumble, there is that restoration, there is that reconciliation in him.

And so we're going to get to chapter number two here, and we're going to see exactly how that happens.

How can we have that ongoing relationship with the Lord?

How can we have that ongoing fellowship with him even though we sin?

Because the truth of the matter is, is that though we are saved, we still have sin that pops up in our life because of our flesh.

And so how can we continue on with fellowship with the Lord?

Well, it says in verse number one of chapter two, my little children.

So we know that he's addressing Christians here.

He says these things, write I unto you that ye sin not.

So the challenge here at the very beginning is this.

We should strive not to sin.

Now, you might say that that sounds like a contradiction because he just said in verse eight, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

So what is he?

What is he doing here?

He says, you're going to sin, but don't sin.

But what we're kind of understanding through the context of Scripture is that he says the goal for us as believers is that we don't sin.

So what we can understand through that is this.

God makes it very clear in Scripture that the believer does not have to sin.

There are some people in this world that say, well, I'm just a human, so inevitably I will sin, so I'm just going to sin.

And so what this passage of Scripture says is this.

We will sin.

But God makes it very clear that we do not have to sin.

God does not make the believer sin.

And the book of James tells us that.

James, chapter one says that sin does not come from God.

It's not the way that God created us.

And so the, the marring of sin in this world does not come from God.

It comes from God's allowance for the individual to make a decision.

And the individual as a believer, though we can walk in the truth, in the Spirit, we can appeal to the flesh.

So he says, I'm writing these things to you so that you don't sin.

The desire of God is that we don't sin.

So God's desire for the believer, his perfect will for the believer is that we do not sin.

But even though God's desire is that we don't sin, it is inevitable for us because we are not God, we are not perfect.

And so the truth is, is that when we do sin, God has a plan for us.

He has a path for us to come back to him in fellowship.

And so we know verse nine says, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

But how can God do that?

How can a holy, righteous God extend forgiveness to someone who is a sinner?

How.

How can God, what we would say, accept sin?

Well, we.

He doesn't accept sin.

But verse number one tells us exactly how and why God allows for us to come back to him in fellowship.

Says there, and if any man sin, so he says, don't sin.

But if you do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

And so God desires that we don't sin.

But then he says, if you do sin, you have an advocate.

There is a provision for us in our flesh.

So it's basically this.

We have a defense lawyer on our side, and that is Jesus Christ.

It says right there, he is our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

And I'm not Josh Massaro the righteous, because I didn't earn my salvation.

It Wasn't my righteousness that deemed me acceptable to God.

It's the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

And so what we can see here is this.

When we fall into sin, when we turn our backs away from the will of God and appeal to the flesh instead of yielding to the Spirit, the Bible says the only way to restore our fellowship with the Father is through our relationship with Jesus Christ.

It's not trying harder.

It's not, you know, praying harder.

It's not going to church more.

It's not, you know, trying to avoid all the sin in my life.

The Bible says here very clearly the way that we can find that restoration with the Father is through our relationship with Jesus Christ.

And so what we can understand in this is that Jesus is our defender.

And so even when we sin, Jesus says, I have paid the price.

Jesus, the one who knew no sin, the Bible says, became sin for us.

He is the one who paid the price.

So verse two tells us how Jesus Christ paid the price for us.

And he talking about Jesus is the propitiation for our sins.

And that word, propitiation is a big word, not a word that we use frequently in our language today.

But what does this mean?

This means that Jesus is the one who atones or takes away our sin.

He's the one who paid the price.

He's the one who received God's wrath, the wrath that we deserve.

And you could read all about this in Isaiah 53.

Jesus was the one who bore the wrath of God that we deserve.

And therefore he satisfied God's wrath.

He satisfied God's judgment.

And so propitiation implies or explains to us that Jesus is the sin offering.

He is the perfect sacrifice.

And it says not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

And so what we can see is this, that all those that come to him in faith can receive forgiveness.

They can receive salvation.

And so I believe that verses 1 and 2 of 1 John, chapter 2 are some of the most beautiful verses in all of Scripture because it basically says, hey, you don't have to sin.

We have a choice to follow God.

But the reality is, is that in our humanity we will stumble.

But there is a path for reconciliation.

And that reconciliation is found in appealing to what Jesus Christ has done for us going back to our salvation.

This is so important because many times Christians will trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and then try to walk the rest of their life in their own strength.

Try to find forgiveness, try to find satisfaction, try to find peace and comfort in their own strength.

But what the Bible says is that we always must go back to what Jesus Christ has done for us in salvation.

Salvation is not.

It is a one time moment.

It is a miracle of the moment when it comes to the justification of us being declared righteous.

But salvation is a thing that we appeal to throughout all of our lives when it comes to our strength, our assurance, our hope, our confidence, our joy, our peace.

We have to be indwelled and then filled with the Spirit to understand the great riches that God has extended to us through our relationship with Jesus Christ.

And so what we can know is this.

If we stumble, if we doubt, if we falter, we can go back and say, you know what?

No.

Jesus Christ is the one who paid my price.

I am not enough.

But Jesus is enough.

And I rely on his strength and his sacrifice to understand what it means to have a fellowship relationship with the Lord again.

One of the many things that Christians struggle with today is assurance of salvation.

And, and we could sit here all night and try to guess why people doubt their salvation.

But ultimately what it is, it's a lack of understanding number one of what salvation is.

Maybe they think, well, maybe I didn't say the right words, maybe I didn't mean it enough, maybe I'm not a good person.

And the truth is, is that if we have a skewed version of what salvation is, we might be tempted to doubt if we are saved.

If I think that salvation is something that I do, I'm going to doubt myself.

There's going to be times in my life where I stumble and therefore I'm going to doubt.

So if my security and my salvation is based in me and my performance, I'm going to doubt.

I'm not going to have assurance of my salvation.

If I think that I can lose my salvation, if I think that God is going to turn his back on me, if I think that Jesus's sacrifice was only good enough for these types of sins, then eventually I'm going to go to a place where I am not secure in my salvation.

I'm going to doubt.

And so what we can also see is this, that unconfessed sin in our life, sin that we harbor, sin that did not go through 1 John 1:9 confessing our sins.

Remember what that word confess means?

Confess in the Greek is two words, homo logeo, same word meaning I agree with God about my sin.

God says my sin is wrong.

I say my sin is wrong.

God says this is wrong.

And, and, and against his word.

I, I agree with that.

And so confessing our sins is this.

I'm agreeing with God on my sin and I'm turning it over to him.

And he cleanses us from all unrighteousness because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

So the beauty of this is that I can have security in my salvation no matter what my circumstances are on the outside.

I can go back to the truth.

I must go back to how I got saved, what I am saved from and what I am saved to.

So verse number two tells us that Jesus is the propitiation.

I didn't pay the price, I didn't do enough.

I can't do enough.

But he can't.

And so sometimes people struggle in their salvation because they think, well, how could God forgive me?

Okay, I've done a lot, I've done terrible things in my past.

I, I don't even know if I forgive myself, so how could God forgive me?

The Bible very clearly teaches that there's nothing that we can do too far for God's grace.

And so what we understand is that if God can forgive us, we must in, in every sense of the word, come to a place where we don't hold ourselves guilty.

Because sometimes it's self imposed guilt that we put on our life.

And the Bible says In Romans chapter 8, verse 1, there's therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.

Condemnation is, is guilt, condemnation is judgment.

And so therefore one of the areas of confusion within the struggle with the assurance of salvation comes from a misunderstanding of what our salvation is and how we have our salvation with Jesus Christ.

And so I think that that's something to be important with because you might have a child, you might have a friend, you might have a family member, you yourself might struggle with the doubts of your assurance of salvation.

And so I wanted to point that out here this evening.

So he is our advocate, he is the propitiation.

And not just for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world.

And I think that's so important to note as well.

So let's go to verse number three.

We'll come back a little bit to those first two verses because that's essentially our reference point for this evening.

But now we're going to see, starting in verse number three, the fruit of the fellowship with God.

So, so, so we sin, we get it right with God.

What's the fruit of that?

What's, what's the outcome of me walking in fellowship with the Lord?

Well, we're going to see that it says, and hereby we do know that we know Him.

If we Keep his commandments.

Now, this is not the Apostle John teaching legalism.

You've got to keep the commandments to be saved, because that's what sometimes people teach.

You got to be doing this and you got to be doing that, and therefore you can be saved.

That's not what he's saying.

He says this, and hereby do we know that we know him.

That's that relationship.

So the relationship is the start, the proof, or the fruit would be what we keep his commandments, obedience.

This is echoed throughout the New Testament when Jesus says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments.

And so what does he say?

Says the proof of a healthy relationship with God, proof that there is fellowship with God, is that we obey him.

We obey his commandments in our life and not perfection.

But when we're walking in the Spirit, we are walking in obedience.

Sometimes people will say, I don't.

I don't know if that action that I just did is in the flesh or in the Spirit.

I don't know if I treated my wife in the flesh or the Spirit.

How do I know, Pastor?

Well, there's this place in the book of Galatians, Galatians, chapter 5, verse 22, that tells us what is the fruit of the Spirit.

And we can go there and we can look at that.

But essentially what we see is that the Bible says there is a test to know whether or not we are walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh.

And a lot of times people will say, well, I just.

I'm not sure if that was something that God told me to do or.

Or is it something that I just did on my own?

Well, you can look at Galatians, chapter five, and you can clearly give yourself a test on whether or not you are walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh.

Galatians, chapter 5, verse 22.

But the fruit of the Spirit.

And by the way, it's fruit, not fruits of the spirit, because we can't pick and choose which one we want to live in.

It's fruit of the spirit love.

And this is just a shameless plug because we're going through a Bible study on Tuesday nights this summer about the fruit of the Spirit.

That type of love is not the type of love that the world teaches on Valentine's Day.

That's a different type of romantic love.

And by the way, in the Greek, there were four different types of love.

There was the type of love, Eros, which was a romantic love.

There was filet.

Oh, where we get the word Philadelphia, that's brotherly love.

There was store J, which was like a familial love.

But then this is not the type of love that, that we're talking about.

The type of love we're talking about here is agape, sacrificial love, love that does not seek after its own good, own well being.

So love, joy, peace, longsuffering, that's patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, self control.

Against such there is no law.

And so the test is this.

I know that was a long, long trail to get there.

But essentially it's this, did I respond in those ways?

If I did not respond in those ways, that was I'm in the flesh.

And so what the Bible says is that it's not just about keeping rules in the Bible.

Well, well, you know what I did, I didn't steal from someone today.

Well, it's more than that, okay?

It's more than just my outward actions.

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter five, it's not just what I do and my action, it's about my attitude.

And so at the end of the day, keeping his commandments is not just keeping a list of rules, it's walking in the spirit and exemplifying what God has said to be what it looks like to be a spirit filled believer.

And so if we say that we have fellowship with him, if we say we love him, and it says in verse three, and hereby we do know there's confidence there that we know him if we keep his commandments.

So when a person, let's say in this case a believer, is not walking in the Spirit and walking in the flesh and not obeying God, what would be the opposite of this?

So it says we know that we know him by keeping his commandments, but when we're not keeping his commandments, we lack the confidence of knowing that we know Him.

And therefore we can have people that say, I just don't feel saved today, I don't know if I'm saved today.

And we're basing our salvation, we're basing our assurance off of a feeling.

And I'm going to tell you that our feelings can betray us.

Our feelings can deceive us.

We even saw back in verse number eight of chapter one, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.

So what does that say?

The Bible says that our emotions can actually lie to us, we can lie to ourselves.

And so the assurance of my salvation, my confidence in God is not based in how I feel or what the circumstances are around Me.

And it goes back to what I know and what the Word of God says.

And so the way that we know that we know him is by following His Word.

And so verse four, he that saith.

So the Apostle John is appealing to somebody in a, maybe a hypothetical situation or a real situation.

He that saith, I know him and keepeth not his commandments is.

And by the way, this is not Pastor Josh.

This is, this is the word of God.

The person who says that they know God but don't keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in Him.

And so the evidence of someone knowing God in the fellowship with him is proved through obedience.

A simple love based obedience is the natural manifestation that happens in the believer's life when we're walking in the truth.

And so the opposite side of that would be someone that says, I know him, and in this case, like I have a personal relationship with him, I'm walking with God.

But then their lifestyle is the opposite.

They're in rebellion to Him.

The Bible says that that person is not walking in fellowship with God.

I'm not saying that that person is unsaved by the way.

I need to be very clear about that.

We're not saying that every single person that sins is not saved because none of us could be saved.

What we're saying is, is that someone says, I'm walking with God, I've got fellowship with God, I'm following His Word, I'm walking in the Spirit, I have everything before God clearly.

But then their life shows the complete opposite.

They're disregarding the Word of God, they're disobeying what God has told them to do.

They are now walking in fellowship with God.

And so the Bible says that that is the, the contrast between who is walking with him and who is not walking with Him.

And that would be the obedience.

And so the truth is that if someone is so certain that they are walking with God, then it will be manifested by the way that they live their life.

And so what essentially the Apostle Paul is doing is challenging their heart.

So, so who, who are you?

Who are you trusting?

Are you trusting in yourself?

Are you trusting in the Word of God?

So verse 5.

But whoso keepeth His Word in him, verily or truthfully, is the love of God perfected?

Now that were perfected doesn't mean that we reach that perfect pinnacle of love.

It just means that it's matured.

And so what we're seeing here is that when we follow God in obedience, the truth shows the love of God is growing in our life.

The love of God is seen through the way that we deal with other people.

So it says hereby know we that we are in him when the love of God is maturing in our life.

And when the love of God is maturing in our life, what happens?

He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked.

And so what the Bible says is that someone that's walking in fellowship with God is growing in their love for the Lord and understanding God's love more in their life.

And what does verse number six say?

That we walk as he walked.

That's essentially what we call Christ likeness.

So walking in the example of Christ walking with his type of love, his type of forgiveness, his type of mercy.

Not completely, because none of us can perfectly be like Christ.

But in this case, we are becoming more and more like him.

So to simplify this topic, it's this.

A Christian that is in fellowship with God, that's obeying him, will become more and more Christlike.

That's the test.

And so if you want to inspect your own life and say, am I walking with the Lord?

Number one, the test is this.

Am I following his Word?

Number two, am I responding more and more in the Spirit and walking Christ like in my life?

Again, this isn't legalism, because legalism would teach that if you're not Christ, like, you're not saved.

And you got to do all these things to be more Christ like.

Again, the.

The outcome is the action, but the start of this is the heart.

And so John makes a link here between our obedience and our love for God.

And what he's saying is that if you say you love God, but you don't love His Word, you say you love God, but you disregard what he tells you, you don't really love God.

That's what he's saying.

And I know that's hard for us in our minds to wrap around, because again, love is an emotion for us in our culture today.

Why feel the love of God today?

But.

But the truth is, when we're looking at it from this perspective, love is a choice.

So I. I have to choose to love God.

It's a decision that I make.

And that makes sense when it comes to this understanding of action.

Action speaks louder than words.

And so when it says that it's perfected, the idea is, is that it's maturing, that it's growing.

So another test to a Christian who's walking in fellowship with God is, is their love Growing for God?

Or is it stagnant?

Or is it, is it receding, going back?

And so for us as Christians, that love should continuously be growing.

The more and more we understand him, the more and more we know Him.

And so the more we experience God's love, the more it gives us assurance in the security that we have and our salvation through Jesus Christ.

So when one becomes a Christian, there is hopefully a change of desire.

And, and there's that song when, when we set our eyes upon Jesus, we look full in his wonderful face.

The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

Now that's a scriptural principle.

What does that mean?

That means the more I desire God, the less I will desire the world.

Now, we're going to see this topic in a little bit in First John, chapter two.

But what is he essentially saying?

He's saying, the more you love God, the less you love the things of this world.

The more you love God, the less you love your flesh, the more you love God, the less you love the sin that held a grip on you before.

And so he's going to talk a little bit about this later on, but he says you can't love the world and love God at the same time.

You can't serve two masters.

And so a lot of times what we see is Christians really wanting to not love the things of this world, but they try to just stop loving the things of this world without trying to love and, and ultimately trusting in the love of God and their life.

And so it's a principle of replacement.

The Bible says in Ephesians, chapter four, it's put off and put on.

You don't just put off the old man.

You don't just stop doing the bad things.

You put off and you put on the good.

You, you put, you insert into your life Christ.

You insert into your life the truth and the love of God.

So when a Christian is, is changing and growing, we see that there is a less of a love for the things of this world.

Now, are there going to be ups and downs?

Certainly.

But a Christian in fellowship with God should no longer love sin like they did before.

A Christian should no longer boast about the sin of their past.

And I know that sometimes that's used in some ways of testimony.

But one of the things that is sometimes a danger is when, though we are Christians and though we don't do the things we used to do, we almost glorify the things of our past in a way of boasting about it.

And we don't want to do that.

A Christian should, hopefully, at this point in their life as they're growing, never enjoy even sins that they commit now as much as they did before they became a Christian.

Though there is pleasure to sin, the Bible very clearly teaches that principle as well.

Because if there.

There was no pleasure to sin, no one would ever do it.

But it's not resting in the pleasure of sin.

It's realizing the repulsiveness and the filth of that sin and saying.

And seeing it for the way that God sees it and saying, I want to get out of that.

I want to turn away from that.

And so really, you could sum it up this way.

And I like the way that.

That many theologians phrase it, but Spurgeon phrased it pretty well.

He put it this way, that the Christian no longer loves sin.

It's the object of his sternest horror.

He no longer rewards it as a mere trifle, plays with it, or talks of it with unconcern.

Sin is dejected in the Christian's heart, though it's not ejected.

Sin may enter the heart and fight for dominion, but it cannot sit upon the throne.

And so what we have to understand as Christians is that there is a huge red flag when sin is what we are drawn to in our lives.

And that is what we're characterized by.

And some people say, how do you know that person's saved?

Is it.

Well, at the end of the day, I cannot see somebody's heart.

I don't know if somebody's saved.

But if there's someone struggling in their salvation, and they say, well, I don't really know that I'm saved.

I don't really know, and I don't have confidence.

I would go back and appeal to them to say, what are you putting your confidence in?

What did you put your confidence in?

Well, I really like the feeling that church brought to me.

I really like the emotional appeal of the music, or I like the.

The preacher's stern way that he brought forth the truth, folks.

Those are all things that can be beneficial.

But at the end of the day, if we are not trusting in the work of Jesus Christ and putting our faith in that alone, it is not salvation.

Okay?

And there's so many people that are.

What we would maybe say is Christian adjacent.

They're very, very close to being a Christian.

They.

They like the appeal and the morals and the things that come along with church and with the Christian values.

But at the end, they have not fully trusted in Jesus Christ.

And when the things of Earth come.

They draw to that more than the things of God.

And so we are called to walk as Christ walked.

We aren't called to, to be exactly like Christ because none of us can be exactly like him, but we are called to appeal to the same power of, of God and ultimately walk as he walked.

And so that's the understanding.

The understanding is this.

Understand God's love, rest in God's love.

And, and he appeals the more here because he says, okay, if you understand God's love, your life will be different.

Verse 7.

Brethren, again a reference to believers.

I write no new commandment unto you.

He says, what I'm about to tell you is not something new.

It's not something revolutionary to our culture because it's already been told to us before.

He says, brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which he had from the beginning.

The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

And so the commandment John wrote of here was at the same time both an old commandment.

They knew this before in the sense that it's been preached their whole lives that, that they've been alive there.

But it's a new commandment in the sense that Jesus said it was a new commandment in John 13:34.

So he says, this is an old commandment.

This has been around a long time.

Verse 8.

Again, a new commandment.

I read unto you which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passed and true light has now shineth.

He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness even until now.

So he takes the test a little bit further.

He says, okay, you say that you love God.

You say that you understand the love of God.

Now, do you love your brother?

He that saith he's in the light.

He that saith he has the truth.

He that saith he believes in God and hate if his brother is in darkness even until now.

And so what is this new commandment?

Well, we know John 13:34, Jesus says we a new commandment I have given unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

And so one of the most important reasons that Jesus told us to love one another is because if we don't understand the love that he has, we're never going to be able to love our neighbor as ourself.

So he wants us to experience our love, his love to us.

And so then that is manifested by what we, what we do in Our life.

And so the new commandment of love is a necessity because of the opposite side of this.

And that would be that what the world teaches.

The world teaches what?

Get even with people.

Only love people that love you and be kind to people who are kind to you.

Well, that's not Christian values.

Christian values is be loving to people that aren't loving to you.

Do good to people that don't do good to you.

And so he says that one.

So, you know, people say, why obey God, right?

Go, go back to what he said in verse three.

And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments.

You, you remember there was that one guy that went to Jesus and he says, you know, what do I have to do to be saved?

And Jesus says, you know, keep the commandments.

I've done that since I was a, you know, all the way up.

I've always kept his commandments.

Well, the reality is, is that none of us could keep all the commandments.

But nonetheless, even if someone felt like, hey, you know what I do, everything that the Bible says, John tests them.

And he says, well, he that saith he's in the light and hated his brother is in darkness even until now.

So, so you don't love God.

You, you aren't walking in fellowship with him if you hate your brother.

He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

And so what we see John doing is exactly what Jesus said.

He says, love God with everything.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

That's really what the Christian life is wrapped up in.

He said, on these two things hang all the law and the prophets.

So he's not discounting the law and the prophets, by the way.

A lot of people say, well, that means we just wipe out all the law and the prophets.

No, but all of that is hanging on these two principles of loving God with everything and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

And so it's all too easy for us as people within the church to, to love people that make sense to love.

But really the true test of ministry is am I going to love people that are difficult?

Am I going to love people who might say that they're my brother, but they might not act like my brother?

And so ultimately we know that what he's telling us here is that the true test to whether or not we love God is do we love our neighbor?

Verse 11.

But he that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether he Goeth because that darkness have blinded his eyes.

And so what is he saying here?

He says that if you think that you love God, but you're hating your brother, you.

You are walking in blindness.

You know, if we turned all the lights off in here and we could darken all the windows, and we told everyone, all right, get out as fast as you can, we're all going to be stumbling all over each other.

We're going to be tripping over the pews.

And let's say there's obstacles in the way.

Someone put obstacles in the way, we wouldn't be able to get out.

And what he's saying is this.

When we try to live our lives this way, saying that we love God, but we don't love our neighbor, we're essentially stumbling around trying to figure things out on our own.

And ultimately that's going to lead to destruction.

And so knowing that Jesus put a huge emphasis on love for one another, John says, hey, that if you hate your brother, you're walking in darkness, you've blinded yourself.

You're walking.

And not the truth, but in the lie of the enemy, to say that you can do both of these things.

So we're gonna really read verse number 12, and then.

And, well, we'll go down to verse number 14, because I think that'll be a good stopping place for this week.

Verse 12.

I write unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

So what is he saying?

He says again, little children, Christians, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake, I write unto you fathers, and because you have known him.

That is from the beginning.

I write unto you young men.

So he's.

He's covering all the people.

He says, I'm writing to fathers.

I'm writing to the young men.

I'm writing to those that are saved because you have overcome the wicked one.

I write unto you little children, because you have known the father.

So he says, I'm writing to you because you've been forgiven.

You need to know what you've been forgiven from.

You need to understand the reality of your relationship with the Lord.

Verse 14.

I have written unto you fathers, because ye have known him.

That is from the beginning.

I have written unto you young men because you are strong and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

And so we.

We begin to see.

In this case, we see the different aspects of the spiritual life.

When we are in the.

The baby state of being a Christian, it's Enough for us just to know the truth of God and the forgiveness of God.

And that's, that's right, that's appropriate at that age.

But as we begin to grow in our spiritual maturity, we should then understand more depth.

And so he says, he says to the little children, your sins are forgiven.

That's, that's amazing.

Verse 13, I ran to you fathers, because you have known him, that is from the beginning.

I write into young men because you have overcome the wicked one.

So there's, there's more layered on there.

And so just as the little children needed to go back to their salvations, the fathers needed to understand how to lead and, and where they were at in their spiritual understanding and how they're guiding other people.

And so I think that what we have to understand that as Christians, we start with the most basic elements of our forgiveness, but we also, as people begin to mature in their faith, we challenge them to live lives differently.

We challenge them to understand that there is spiritual battle out there and that ultimately the spiritual enemy, which we know ultimately is Satan, he wants to destroy us.

He wants to, he wants to totally wipe us out.

And it says, but verse 13, he says that they could overcome the wicked one with the truth of God.

And so ultimately, what we can tell here is that John is essentially challenging them to be consistent with what is, what is there, what is, what is in the Word.

And if he says verse number 14, you're going to be strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

So it shows us the formula to overcome the temptation, overcome the enemy, being strong in the power of God, in the word of God, and allowing God to dwell in us and rule and reign in our lives.

And so he's going to stop there and he's going to kind of shift gears and talk about how we as believers walking in fellowship with God should love not the world or the things in the world, but ultimately point to Christ.

And then he's going to talk a little bit.

I kind of whet your appetite for the next time.

He's going to talk about the spirit of the Antichrist within our midst.

And we're going to talk about basically anything that goes against the truth of Jesus Christ is, is, is Antichrist and therefore destructive to our lives.

And so we'll talk more about that when we come back.

So just remember, verses one and two, don't sin, but if you do, you have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

He's the propitiation, he's the substance, he's the sacrifice, he's the sufficiency.

And so anytime you feel inadequate, anytime you feel doubts, anytime you feel concern, go back to the root and say, is my faith in Jesus or is it in anything else?

If your faith in your assurance is in anything else outside of relationship with Jesus, you will have doubt, you will have confusion, you will have uncertainty in your life.

But ultimately we have to go back to the root.

We have to go back to the core.

We have to go back to the foundation.

The Bible calls him the chief cornerstone, the sure foundation, the rock on which we stand.

And that is Jesus Christ.

And so ultimately, when someone is struggling with their salvation, someone's struggling with doubts, we take them back to Jesus.

We take them back to the Word, we take them back to the truth.

And not, well, you know, did you feel good today?

Because I don't know about you as Christians.

There are days where I wake up and I feel great.

There are days when I wake up and I don't feel great.

There's days when I wake up and I feel confused.

There's days when I wake up and I'm not sure what to do.

The Bible says, when you don't know what to do.

James, chapter one, Ask God, Give.

Ask God for wisdom.

He'll give it to you liberally, as the Bible says.

And he abrades not, meaning he doesn't hold it over our heads.

God wants us to come to him.

We can never annoy the Lord.

We can never come to him too much.

And so ultimately, when someone's doubting, we don't lead them to more confusion by trying to overanalyze.

We just say we go to Jesus Christ.

And so if there's someone in your life that maybe is struggling with assurance of salvation, obviously take them to the gospel.

But if they would like to read a book of the Bible first, John is a wonderful book of the Bible to read and analyze and say, is this really a mark of who I am?

Am I walking in fellowship with the Lord?

And, and so there's, there's two levels to that.

Number one, do I know him on a personal level?

But number two, I might have known him at one point, but I'm walking out of step.

I'm not walking in fellowship with him.

That might need to.

That's why we have revival in this world.

That's why we need revival.

We need, need new life.

We need to be recharged, we need to be re.

Energized.

That's why we meet on Wednesday Nights.

I mean, there's, there's.

I don't.

Maybe you guys found it when you were reading through the Bible.

I didn't find anything in the Bible that said we must meet on Wednesday nights.

Okay.

But I do know in the Bible it says we should meet all the more as the day, the day approaches.

So why not meet on Wednesday nights?

That's a great time for us to be recharged, to be revitalized, to be renewed and refreshed in the middle of our week.

Because I don't know about you, but about halfway through my week, I'm, I'm pretty weary.

I'm pretty, I'm pretty down in the dumps.

If I've turned on the news or.

I've had some people in my life that have had pain and suffering, but at the end of the day, we always come back and we recharge in the Word.

But the beauty is, is that we don't have to wait till Wednesday.

The beauty is, is that you can walk with Jesus Christ, you can have that personal relationship with him.

You have the word of God.

If I told you, hey, you know what, guys don't read the Bible because you wouldn't be able to understand it.

Well, let me explain it to you.

That's what the many people long ago would do.

They would get up in front of the church and the Bibles would be chained to the pulpit and it would be in a language that the people didn't understand.

And it would be through one person.

Anyone can find any truth.

And how do you know that I'm not misleading you?

So we'd be like Bereans.

And I say, hey, you read the Bible, you check things.

And that's the mark of, I believe a healthy relationship within the church and ultimately with the Lord is that I go to the Word, I get fed, and I, I can see that happening in my own life personally and not through somebody else.

And so, yes, come to church, get fed that way, but also get some snacks throughout the week.

Study the word of God yourself.

And I think that's so much more valuable than saying, you know what?

I, I gotta, I, you know, I just don't know what to do.

I have to, I have, you know, if there's questions, sure, that's what people are there for.

The Bible speaks of going to godly counsel and having, having shepherds and having people that can spiritually lead.

But at the same time, God designed it for you to have that personal walk with him because you can go boldly before the throne of grace.

So I encourage you to think about that and trust in that throughout your week.

Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.

I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.

If you would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow along for future podcast and updates.

Thank you so much.

God Bless.

Have a wonderful day.