Sermon | Shawn Miller

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Transcript

Setting The Stage For 1 John

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I uh started a mini series on the book of First John. And this morning is a continuation of that. Before we go into the subject at hand this morning, I'd like to not necessarily recap the first sermon, but I'd like to again set the context of the book of First John. I'd like to look at who were the people that John was writing to, and where did a lot of first John come out of? Which, as we mentioned the last time, it came out of his experience of personally walking with Jesus while Jesus was here on earth. 1 John was written by John. There is conclusive evidence that the book is written by John, the same John that wrote the Gospel of John. The audience that he's writing to is, it's it's it seems, and like I mentioned in the first sermon, it's a little bit difficult to get the exact context of this book. But according to theologians, it uh John is writing to a network of small churches, most possibly in the area of Ephesus. And as we looked at last in the last sermon, Revelation, also written by John, would indicate or would allude to that fact because Ephesus is the first church or one of the first churches that is mentioned when God is passing judgment on the churches. One thing that is really important to remember, and for sure, as we go into the sermon this morning, that first John is written more of an encouragement than it is a book of admonition. And the sermon this morning entitled Knowing the Father, I really want this sermon to be encouraging this morning and not discouraging, but encouraging in the sense that we already have a relationship with the Father. Our sins are forgiven, and we are overcomers as encouragement and for you as we go through the sermon to think, what am I doing well? How well am I doing? instead of thinking, Oh, I am so bad at this, or I am just failing at this. And we'll get into that more into in uh as we get into the introduction of this morning's sermon. One more thought that I'd like to bring out in the context of John or 1 John, that most of the ideas, the key ideas and the keywords in 1 John come out of his gospel of John.

Three Themes And Walking In Light

SPEAKER_00 2:56

And that there are three themes in 1 John, three main themes. It is God is light, God is love, and God is truth. And this morning's sermon will be a continuation of God is light, of walking in the light. Two of these themes are introduced by this is the message. And I think John has credibility in using those words because he's saying, This is the message I'm bringing to you that I experienced while walking with Jesus. And this is the message that I heard from Jesus personally. Me as in talking to you. Wouldn't that have been awesome? To have that personal physical connection with

Knowing The Father Without Shame

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Jesus. All right, let's go into today's sermon of Knowing the Father. The text of today's sermon is going to be 1 John chapter 2, verses 1 through 14. As I mentioned, I want this sermon to come across as a huge encouragement to you today. The words that John is writing in this first epistle of John, he is writing this not to shame his audience. In the age that we live in today, it seems that there is a lot of focus on negative versus positive. We are often told who we are not. I'm not good enough. I might not be spiritual enough. I'm 52 years old. I'm not far enough along as I ought to be. I'm not in life where I ought to be. John this morning, in the text that we're going to be looking at, he gives these words as an encouragement. In the first 24 verses of 1 John, the first chapter, and including the text that I'll be using this morning, John does not give one command, which I find very interesting. But he gives the language of if you do this, then you are this. If you don't do this, then you are this. He does not give a command until chapter 2, verse 15, which we're not going to cover this morning. And the first command that he gives then is do not love the world. Do not love the things that are in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. But up until that, it's all encouragement. And that's what I want you to feel this morning. I'm not going to read the text as a whole, but we'll read the different portions of the text as we go through them.

Your Sins Are Forgiven

SPEAKER_00 6:25

1 John 2, verses 1 and 2. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So we have three phrases slash words that I like to look at in the first two verses. The first is his opening phrase, my little children. When you hear the phrase, my little children, in this context, and I'll open it up in any context. If somebody addresses you as my little children, what comes to mind? Anybody? And it's not a wrong or right answer. I'm just curious, what comes to your mind? How does it make you feel? Protected and loved. Relationship. Okay? Or it depends what you just did, right?

unknown 7:43

Okay?

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Depends a little bit how the person is that's saying it. Okay, a little indignant. Anybody? Say that again. Okay. Depends if it was meant as an insult. So look at the next phrase right after my little children. And this is where I come back to John is addressing his audience, not in a shameful way. He is not saying, My little children, you did this and this and this, and you have to do this and this and this. But he's saying, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. He is looking out for them. He is protecting them. He is being that father person to them. He is being their spiritual father. John is writing this to his spiritual children, to the churches that he has oversight to. Communicates a spiritual father figure, almost communicates a shepherd tone, as I care about you. John uses this phrase seven times in first John. So let's look at a few more things that this phrase might communicate. It communicates deep affection. Loved and protected. Or how you want to talk to your children. And I know as moms and dads, we don't always end up talking to our children like we want to talk to our children, depending on the situation. But if we go with out of the deep love that we have for our children, that's how we speak to them. Through the lens of loving them, protecting them, wanting the best for them. One of the hardest things of raising children is the want to keep them from going through hard. It's not the best thing. Because in order to prepare your children for the real world, they will have to go through hard at some time. But it's the parent, it's it's that parent instinct of wanting to keep your children from going through hard. And I think that's what John is wanting for his church people. My dear children, I'm writing this so that you might not sin. Just as parents with their children. But it draws them close before he instructs them. That's sometimes hard in raising children to have grace before command. And I challenge all of you parents with that, including myself. I'm not an empty nester yet. And for sure, when there's teenagers, to have grace before command. And this is what John was doing here with his audience. John's intent is to communicate as a loving father who knows that his children are in danger.

Advocate And Propitiation Made Clear

SPEAKER_00 11:57

One of my favorite things to do is take my two granddaughters and go out and see the chickens, our chickens. They love looking at the chickens. Last night they were at our house and it was it was like almost dark. And little Caroline goes, I want to go see the chickens. Well, we didn't go see the chickens, but when we do go see the chickens, um, we have there's a concrete pad out back, and then there's about a two-foot uh poured wall that comes up past the concrete. Our chicken pen is like an eight-foot drop on the other side of that poured wall. And they love sitting on that ledge with their feet dangling over the ledge and watching the chickens. And for sure, if we take a head of lettuce along and throw it down in, and they the chickens just go wild over lettuce, and they love watching the chickens. Now, I've never, it's never crossed my mind to sit them on that ledge and then go my merry way and not worry about them. If they'd fall, they could easily break a leg or break an arm. So, what I normally do is I sit down with them and either I put my arm around them so they don't fall, or I just really gently tell them to be very careful when we're sitting on this ledge. It never crosses my mind to be really harsh and right away tell them that if you fall, you're gonna break a leg and give them all the bad stuff that could happen here, even though there's a lot of bad that can happen. But I go into protective mode and I go into loving grandfather mode. That's the picture that John is giving to his audience here. I'm here to warn you before something bad happens. As we receive instruction from this passage this morning, not from me, but from God, allow yourself to be that child of the Father this morning. As we look into what John has for his audience. So the first phrase was, My little children. Now we get to the word, but if anyone does sin, he says, I write these things so that you may not sin. But then he goes, If anybody does sin, in other words, he says, You're not perfect. You're not perfect. We live in a world of sin. We will at times sin. Romans 3 23, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But he says, if you do sin, you have an advocate. So what is an advocate? In this context, an advocate refers to somebody that pleads the case of another before a judge. It literally the Greek word means, and I'm not trying to uh we have way too many Greek scholars here this morning, and for me to try to pronounce a Greek word, so I don't only pronounce it. But the Greek word does mean one called alongside to help. It's the same word that translated comforter and helper when referring to the Holy Spirit in John's gospel. So we have the advocate as somebody that pleads our case to the judge, and then we come to that big word, propitiation. So, what does the word propitiation mean? He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So propitiation is a word that describes how Jesus' death on the cross satisfied God's anger toward sin. Propitiation is not necessarily what gets rid of the guilt or the sin, that is forgiveness. Propation has made it possible for there to be forgiveness. The best way that I can bring propitiation into our terms is by just drawing a short illustration here, and I see Mike, I'm myself, and I have Tyson. So if I owe Mike a debt, if I owe Mike a sum of money, and I am not paying Mike back, and I'm not paying my debt back to him, Mike might get really angry at me for not paying my debt back at him. Tyson comes along and says, Mike, Sean actually doesn't have the means to pay that debt right now. But I'll step in and I'll pay it for him. And Mike says, To me, it's not really a big difference who pays it as long as it gets paid. Mike says, I'm no longer angry at Sean because I have my money. That's what Jesus did for us. Because of God's holy nature and because of God's holy character, God cannot stand sin. We didn't have the means to repay our sin. So Christ stepped in and said, Yes, I am willing to pay that sin, to subside God's anger so that we don't get destroyed. That's propitiating for our sin. Somebody that steps in to subside the anger of the wrong that was done. That's Jesus Christ. And what's so powerful, He He is both our advocate and He's our propitiation. That's what so powerful about this. He can advocate for us because He has already paid what justice required because of God's holy nature. He doesn't argue our innocence because we're not innocent, but he presents himself as a sufficient payment. That's what Jesus does for us. Imagine this as a courtroom picture, as a legal scene. God is a judge, we are the accused, Christ is our defense attorney. And the cross was a satisfactory payment, it was a propitiation that alleviated God's anger towards sin because of the ultimate sacrifice that was given. Isn't that amazing? Let's give Jesus a hand for doing that for us this morning. That is just that that that is just such an amazing thing. That he is the propitiation. He went to God and said, Yes, God, I know you're asking this of me. I'm willing to do this so that you don't get angry at your creation. And then not only does he do that, but I think when we sin, he advocates for us, God, just forgive. You know the sacrifice that I gave. I gave my life for Sean. Don't let your anger come against him. It's paid for. What a blessing. So the first point was in verses one and two, your sins are forgiven. Claim that. Your sins are forgiven.

Obedience As Proof Of Knowing God

SPEAKER_00 19:53

Verses 3 through 11, the second point is, you know the Father. You know the Father. You already know the Father. Let's read verses 3 through 11. And by this we know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments. Whoever says, I know Him, but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. But whoever keeps His word in Him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him. Whoever says He abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked. Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. How do I know that I truly know Jesus? How do you know that you truly love Jesus or that you truly know Jesus? If we really strip this down to what it's actually saying, it's quite simple. Verse 3, and by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. So what commandments is he talking about? I think in this context, it is referring to literally the teachings of Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount, the teachings that John experienced in the Gospel of John. The teachings that we have all through the Gospels to simply obey them. Now I know that's a lot harder said than done, but I think this is what John is saying here. If you testify that you know the Father, then you can actually prove that by keeping his commandments. Verse 4 is pretty straightforward, and I'm going to read it again. Whoever says I know him, but does not keep his commandments, does not keep the Beatitudes, does not keep the Sermon on the Mount, does not keep the teachings that Jesus gave his disciples. Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar. Now, I have not in my lifetime called many people a liar. That's pretty strong language. And I would imagine that most of you have not called a lot of people a liar. That is strong language, but John is saying here if we say we know him, but we don't do what he's telling us to do, that makes us a liar because we're not telling the truth. And telling the truth or telling an untruth, that's a very elementary thing in the Christian life. And that is just to do what we say, to be honest. Verse 5. But whoever keeps his word in him, truly the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in him. So what does this mean? What does it mean to have the love of God perfected in us? So the Greek meaning for the word love in this context is actually the word agape. And agape, I think we're most of us are aware that that is a very sacrificial love. If we truly say we know the Father, then it needs to be the objective of our whole being to love his son Jesus. And by making that our focal point, becoming like Christ, living his teachings, loving him as our first love, then God can actually perfect his love in us. Because if we have the love of the Father in us, then it will show in our actions. In John 15, the Gospel of John, chapter 15, it talks about the vine and the branches. And there it talks about if we abide in him, then our fruit will actually show that. By obeying his commandments, that's the way I show that I love him. And if I obey his commandments because of my love for Christ, God's love perfects in me that will then flow out to those around me. We are the image bearers of God. God is not physically, we can't physically see God, although he's present. But that's where we come in as his image bearers to show God's love through our hands and feet to others. That's the way God's love is perfected in us. But it starts with our love for Christ. And if we love Christ, we will keep his commandments, and we can truly say that we live in him. If I make Jesus a focal point of my life. Then in verse 7, he says, Beloved, I am writing to you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning. And then it almost seems like a contrast. The old commandment is a word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. So, what is this new commandment that he first says is not new, but now he comes back and says is new and comparing it to the old? I'd like to draw our attention to the Gospel of John. You don't have to turn to it, to the Gospel of John in chapter 13. The context of the passage that I'm about to read, that I am about to read is Jesus with his disciples at the Last Supper. Now, just before Jesus' words that I will be reading, this is a scene that took place. Jesus met with his disciples, they were communion, they were having communion in the Last Supper. Jesus says, One of you will betray me. Judas grabs a morsel, heads out the door. Right after Judas heads out the door, Jesus addresses his disciples, and he talks briefly about what will happen to him. And then Jesus says this in verse 33. This is in uh the Gospel of John. Remember, the author, first John, was sitting here present. And we would we would we would translate the one that was leaning up against Jesus was possibly John. And then Jesus has these words to his disciples, little children, yet a little while I'm with you, you will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so nigh I also say to you, where I am going, you cannot come. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another. Jesus knew that Judas was going to be the betrayer. He just told the disciples, one of you is going to betray me. They at that point, I don't know if they knew or not that it was Judas. Judas grabs the morsel, he heads out the door, and a few minutes later, we assume, Jesus says these words A new commandment I give you that you love one another. I imagine Jesus was at this time struggling with loving Judas. And I imagine Jesus knew that when the disciples find out who the betrayer is going to be, that they're going to struggle to love one another. And here in 1 John, John talks about the old commandment love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. And then Jesus comes on the scene, and now he says, This is actually also new. Jesus is here showing us how to love one another. Love one another. Now let's go back to 1 John and see what he says happens if we don't love one another. In verse 9, whoever see whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. Now I'd like to just draw our attention back to chapter 1 in verses 5 through 6 and 6 in chapter 1 of 1 John. This is a message that we have heard from God and proclaimed to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he's in the light, we have fellowship with one another. Now flip over to chapter 2 again. Here he says, If we love our brother, we walk in the light. If we hate our brother, we walk in darkness. Chapter 1, he says, if you walk in darkness, you're not in fellowship with me. Cody touched on it in the Sermon on the Mount this morning. I think, Cody, I wanted to write it down. I wasn't fast enough. But you mentioned something that our love for the brotherhood, our love for God depends on our love for the brotherhood. If we don't love each other, it affects our love for God. And I think you can also flip that. If we don't have the vertical relationship, we won't have the horizontal relationship. This morning, folks, our love for each other, our love for the believers in Christ is essential in our fellowship with God. If we can't love each other, we cannot say that we love God. It makes us a liar. Because if we can't love each other, he's saying you're living in darkness. And in the first chapter, he's saying, if you're living in darkness and not walking in the light, you're not in fellowship with me. It's a serious thing of getting along this morning as a Christian brotherhood. Now he uses some very strong language here. He uses love and he uses hate.

Love Hate And The Growth Area

SPEAKER_00 31:46

I'm gonna pose the question this morning. Is there any space between love and hate? Is there any space between love and hate? I'll let that marinate for just a few seconds. So John's language throughout the first epistle is very stark by by character and it's very black and white. He uses light, darkness. He uses love, hate. He uses truth, lies. Am I wrong in saying that I do believe there is space between love and hate? And I'm gonna not call it a gray area, I'm gonna call it, I'm gonna call it the growth area. Let me give some examples. And as I give these examples, ask yourself, where am I in this space between love and hate when it comes to brotherhood? Indifference. Not having not hating someone, but not really caring about their well-being either. So is that love or hate? Just being indifferent. Yes, we get along well, but if they end up in the hospital, yeah, if they have a financial need, they can take care of themselves. But we don't we we get along well, we don't hate them, but so would that be love? Or is that in that growth area? Unresolved conflict when there is some tension, hurt feelings, but it hasn't yet come to what we'd say is hate or hatred. But there's also not that clear-cut line of just fervently loving that person, selective love, loving some brothers and sisters while quietly excluding others. And while I'm saying this, I have nobody and nothing in mind. I'm just I'm just throwing these out as a challenge for myself and you. Is there space between love and hate? Love mixed with resentment. Maybe you have something that happened years ago and you've talked through it, and you actually love the person, but you have those feelings come back time and again. Maybe it's passive neglect, not wishing somebody harm, but also not actively seeking their good. In 1 John 3, verse 17 talks about this. I'm gonna read this verse. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God love, how does God's love abide in him? Our walk with God is a journey. The question that I think we all need to ask ourselves is not necessarily do I love or do I hate, but maybe more am I moving toward love or am I moving away from love on any given situation? I don't think John is saying if you're not perfectly loving somebody, somebody or something, I don't think he's saying you're a hater. But I think he is saying if we find ourselves in that area that I'm gonna call a growth area, that space between the ditch of love and the ditch of hate, I think we need to ask ourselves the question: if we're not moving towards love, what is keeping us from moving towards love? Because, folks, this morning, if we don't love one another, if we don't love our brother and sister, then we're not in fellowship with God. How is it with you this morning? That growth area, that area between love and hate. I like to look at that as the area where love and forgiveness is experienced in our journey towards love, where it might be absent. The challenge and encouragement in knowing the Father and in loving one another is this every time you choose a brother over bitterness, every time you step towards someone instead of a way, every time you let forgiveness you have you have already received because our sins are forgiven, every time you let that forgiveness flow outward to someone who needs it, this is a true statement and a true testament of your fellowship with the Father. And when we don't do that, when I don't extend forgiveness, when I choose bitterness over redemption, when I make those choices, that I am literally choosing to cut off my fellowship with the father. That's what John is telling us here.

You Have Overcome The Evil One

SPEAKER_00 37:24

So the first one was your sins are forgiven. The second one, you are in fellowship with the father. And the third point is this you have overcome the evil one. You have overcome the evil one. Verses 12 through 14. Verse 12, I am writing to you again, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. Again, he basically repeats himself. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. What is he meaning with these this repeat, almost uh repeating word for word, what he just wrote to his audience? So I'm gonna separate them by the group and what he said in his first address, and then what he said in his second address. The first group was again little children. And he the first time he addresses in verse 12, he says, Your sins are forgiven. And the second time, when he repeats, he says, You know the father. To what he labels as fathers, the first time he says, You know him who is from the beginning, verse 13. And the second time, it's almost the exact same words, you know him who is from the beginning, but he says it twice, and then the third group he addresses is the young men, the ones that are strong and fervent and have energy. The first time in verse 13, he says, You have overcome the evil one, and the second time in verse 14, when he addresses them, he says, You are strong. God's word abides in you, you've overcome the evil one. I'm gonna go back and just give a basic definition for what this could mean to each of these groups, little children. It's the most basic assurance that John can give them. It could be new believers, it could be all of us as believers. But he's basically saying, in a most basic assurance, he's saying, your sins are forgiven. You have an advocate that's batting for you, you have somebody that was your propitiation, he subdued God's anger towards sin by giving himself as a sacrifice, thus forgiving your sins, making forgiveness possible. And he says, Because of that, you can know the father. To the fathers, more uh more tending towards somebody that's really mature in the faith, a deep, mature knowledge of God. The repetition of the same phrase suggests that John sees this as a defining mark, maybe in their spiritual journey, settled in their faith, living out of an intimate relationship with Christ, in fellowship with the Father, and then the young men, and I love this, what he says to the young men, and I think he's referring to those of you that are filled with spiritual vigor, with a lot of spiritual energy, you're living in victory, you're strong, the word of God lives in you, actively overcoming the evil one through your energetic spiritual vibrance and being rooted in scripture. Which one of you is this this morning? He is intentionally telling them you are forgiven, you're already knowing God, and he doesn't say you can overcome evil, he says you're already victorious, you you've overcome evil, the evil one. So now just go out and live that way, act that way. If you are a little child in your faith this morning, rest assured and be encouraged that the father knows your name, he knows who you are. The father looks at you as his child. And if you don't already, please start viewing him as your father. He wants to be a daddy to you, a spiritual daddy to you. If you're one of those that he's that you identify with, what he calls a father, if you are your father, seasoned, worn, been in the journey a long time, but you know what you believe. You're you're convinced on where you stand, and you have that deep, intimate relationship with him, but you're tired, you're not as energetic as you were at one time, even in the Christian life. Be encouraged because he's saying, That's enough, that's enough, you're in fellowship with me, and then if you're the young man or the young lady, the young woman that is still full of fight, you're eager to fight off whatever comes your way. The word of God lives in you in a vibrant, energetic way. The evil one has lost when he thinks of your name. God's also got that, and he has you, he knows your name, he knows who you are, and he's there to keep energizing and keep moving you forward.

Final Encouragement And Prayer

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In conclusion, this morning, I'm going to basically repeat my introduction. We live in a world that is constantly telling us who we are not. Not good enough. Not strong enough. Not spiritual enough. Not far enough along in our journey. But what John has written to us today has a different tone. He is not writing this to shame us. I am writing these things so that you may not sin. I am writing these things as a father and an overseer to show my love for you and to protect you from hard. I haven't given, he doesn't say this, but he hasn't given us a command yet in 1 John up to this point. But he just says, if you do this, then this will happen. This morning, I want to encourage you, wherever you find yourself on this spectrum of your journey, just remember and be encouraged that your sins are forgiven. And that you do know the Father. And that you have what it takes to overcome the evil one. Be encouraged in that this morning. Let's pray. Our Father God this morning, I pray that you might grant the increase to your word. And I pray that we could be encouraged that we have what it takes. And to be encouraged that as we walk in the light and as we love each other, we are in fellowship with you. And we can come overcome anything that comes our way because you are there to help us and protect us and love us and encourage us. So, Lord, this morning we commit the sermon and everything that was set into your hands and everybody that is here this morning. I pray this on your name. Amen.