We turn tonight to the first epistle of
John, please.
The first epistle of John, chapter two.
We've had the joy of looking into the
gospel of John in the past two nights,
and considering the great truth of God the
Father, and the revelation of that blessed Father
through God, the beloved Son.
We have also noted how God the Father
obtains this family.
Tonight we turn to the epistle that is
a family epistle, written by the Spirit of
God through the same servant that wrote the
gospel, John.
Begin reading with me tonight in verse 12,
please.
I'd like to read through verse 28.
I write unto you children, I'm omitting the
word little, which is omitted in the original
text, I write unto you children, because your
sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
I write unto you fathers, because ye have
known him that is from the beginning.
I write unto you young men, because ye
have overcome the wicked one.
I write unto you little children, and on
this occasion the word little is correct.
I write unto you little children, because ye
have known the Father.
I have written unto you fathers, because ye
have known him that is from the beginning.
I have written unto you young men, because
ye are strong, and the word of God
abideth in you, and ye have overcome the
wicked one.
Love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love
of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not of the Father that is of the
world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust
thereof.
But he that doeth the will of God
abideth forever.
Little children, it is the last time.
And as ye have heard that Antichrist shall
come, even now are there many Antichrists, whereby
we know that it is the last time.
They went out from us, but they were
not of us.
For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us.
But they went out that they might be
made manifest, that they were not all of
us.
But ye have an unction from the Holy
One, and ye know all things.
I have not written unto you because ye
know not the truth, but because ye know
it, and that no lie is of the
truth.
Who is a liar but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ?
He is Antichrist but denieth the Father and
the Son?
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not
the Father.
But he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the
Father also.
Let that therefore abiding you which ye have
heard from the beginning.
If that which ye have heard from the
beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall
continue in the Son and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he hath
promised us, even eternal life.
These things have I written unto you concerning
them that seduce you.
But the anointing which ye have received of
him abideth in you.
And ye need not that any man teach
you, but as the same anointing teaches you
of all things, and is true, and is
no lie, and even as it hath taught
you, ye shall abide in him.
And now, children, abide in him, that when
he shall appear, we may have confidence and
not be ashamed before him and his coming.
May God bless the reading, and by the
Spirit give health and blessing to the ministry
of his precious word.
We have noted two particular facts concerning the
coming of the beloved Son of God into
this world.
To bring, first of all, the revelation of
his Father.
For as the Lord Jesus said, no man
knoweth the Son, knoweth the Father rather, but
the Son, and he to whom the Son
will reveal him.
And we have noted from the Gospel of
John, the purpose of the Son of God
coming into this world, was not only to
reveal his own glory, which he did, but
to also reveal the Father.
The revelation of the Father, with all that
is involved in the Father's person, the Father's
bosom, the Father's love, could never be revealed
to mankind without the coming of the Son.
We rejoice to be living in the Christian
age, when we have the full blaze of
divine revelation, when the heart of God has
been revealed through the coming into this scene,
by his words, by his works, and by
the consummation of his death upon the cross,
the Son has fully revealed the Father.
It is an absolute impossibility for any person
to declare that they can never know God
as Father, and to suggest that he has
never been revealed as such.
For in the glory of the Son, and
in the person of the Son on this
earth, from the manger to his death upon
the cross, the Father has been revealed.
One of the unique facts concerning the Gospel
of John, as many of you may have
noted, is when you read it through, and
not only behold the glory of the Son
of God, and the glory of the only
begotten of the Father, but you will also
note, if you count carefully, 120 occasions the
Father is mentioned.
For the obvious purpose of the Son, manifesting
his glory in the whole Gospel, and through
his life, was to reveal in fullness, and
exhibit in perfection, the heart of his Father
God.
We rejoice, and would to God we could
fathom deeper, and then come all fully into
that revelation that is unfolded, the heart of
God.
But the Lord Jesus came not only to
reveal the heart of his Father, he came
also to gather the children that would consist
of the family to belong to his Father.
And we acknowledge, as we saw last night,
that for the purpose of gathering together the
children of God, who scattered throughout the generations
of this age, throughout the countries of this
world, the Spirit of God would bring them,
through that blessed one who has redeemed them,
to be brought into the family of God,
and to the Father.
He came not only to gather, to bring
the Father to our revelation, but he came
also to gather the children, and to obtain
them for his Father, thanks be to God.
He not only reveals the Father on one
hand, but he reaches out by his hand
of grace and power, to rescue a poor
believing sinner, and to, sent in himself, and
his redeeming work, bring that sinner into the
family of God.
For as many as we see him, as
we saw, to then give him the right,
the privilege, the authority, to be called the
sons or the children of God, even to
them that believe on his name.
And beloved, it is a wonderful joy to
honor the Father when another one is born
into the family.
May I incidentally, and not just by incident,
but personally, if I may be speaking before
one soul who knows not the Savior, and
you may not have Christ, you may not
be a child of God, may I say,
God desires that you become his child, Christ
the Beloved is dying to save you, and
you have the opportunity, if you will, of
becoming a child of God, and a member
of the family.
Now when you turn to the epistle of
John, as we have done tonight, and shall
perhaps tomorrow night do, we look not just
at the Father, we look at the Father's
family.
For John writes the epistle to the family.
The whole letter is addressed to the family
of God, and in the context of what
we have read tonight, the words of John
are addressed to the family, and all the
family.
But will you note with me carefully the
opening words of his address in verse 12.
For when John begins to speak, he speaks
first of all of one thing that classifies
the whole family.
He says in verse 12, I write unto
you children, and let me restate, the word
little is not in the original text, it
should be omitted, for John is looking by
the Spirit at all the family.
I write unto you children, because your sins
are forgiven you for this next thing.
Now may I emphasize what God the Spirit
emphasizes here?
A truth that indicates one of the most
precious facts regarding the family, and that is
the unity of the family.
The unity of the family of God.
A characteristic that belongs to every one in
the family, and that acknowledges they belong to
the family, and they are the children of
God.
If perhaps you may ask the question in
your heart and mind tonight, am I in
the family of God?
I perhaps am not sure that I am.
Then may I point out to you with
definite assurance how you may know that you're
in the family.
For the one prevailing characteristic that John acknowledges
belongs to every one in the family is
this fact.
They have received the forgiveness of their sins.
Your sins are forgiven you for his next
thing.
And may I say faithfully, if your sins
are not forgiven, you're not in the family.
And on the other hand, if your sins
are forgiven, they are in the family.
May I quote the words of Paul if
he wrote them?
Has he declared the predestination of the believer
and the foreordained counsel of God that in
eternal ages past?
He determined that he should have a family,
and that family should be brought before him,
holy and without blame, in love.
Then John goes on, or Paul rather, goes
on to state how they came into the
family, saying that through the beloved they have
been accepted in the beloved, in whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness of sin according to
the riches of his grace, by his precious
blood.
Now let me repeat those words carefully, the
seventh verse of that chapter particularly, Ephesians 1.
In whom, that is the beloved son, in
whom we have redemption, through his blood, the
forgiveness of sin according to the riches of
his grace.
There is only one way for you and
me to get into the family.
Our sins must be forgiven.
And on the ground of acceptance through Christ
the beloved, can we be brought into the
family of God.
Now may I point out to you, where
you will find your redemption, the redemption of
your soul must only be found in a
person, that person, the beloved, in whom we
have redemption.
You cannot get into the family of God
apart from the Son, for in him, and
in him alone, you can find your redemption,
your deliverance from the penalty, your deliverance from
the bondage and the power of sin that
is over you.
And why is redemption found in him?
For you have the power of that redemption
through his blood.
In whom we have redemption through his blood.
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh precious is the flow that makes me
white as snow, no other fount I know,
nothing but the blood of Jesus.
My beloved sinner friend, the power of redemption
is in the blood of Christ.
For the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son,
cleanses us from all sin.
And then if you trust that Savior and
his precious blood, you will have the proof
of your redemption.
You say, what is that?
The forgiveness of sin.
For the word forgiveness translated from one Greek
word into two English words, either remission or
forgiveness, is the same.
And the forgiveness of sin, what is that?
Well it means to lose something.
And I know nothing better to lose than
to lose your sins, and have them taken
away.
May I give you very briefly and pointedly,
what God does when he forgives sins?
Let me quote the words that are written
in Psalm 103 verse 12.
As far as the east is removed from
the west, so far has he removed our
transgressions from us.
For when God forgives the sins of one
who trusts his Son, he puts those sins
out of reach.
What a God!
You'll never be able to do it, but
he can, through the blood of his dear
Son.
When God forgives sins, he not only puts
them out of reach, Micah chapter 7 and
verse 19 declares, their sins will I cast
into the depths of the sea.
And what a joy to recognize.
When God forgives sins, he puts them into
the depths of the sea, figuratively.
I don't know how deep the sea is,
but I recall reading, shortly following World War
II, an amazing find by the United States
Navy, that west of the Philippine Islands, they
came across a deep trench, and there was
a deep body of water that was explored
after the war, and was found to be
a six to seven miles deep.
And they said it would take a penny,
48 hours to get to the bottom.
Well I'm not going after that penny, and
not even a lot of other pennies.
But to recognize the figurative language that God
uses, I will cast their sins into the
depths of the sea.
But you know there's something better than that.
In Jeremiah 31-34, Hebrews 10-17, re
-quoted, God says their sins and iniquities will
I remember no more.
Not only out of sight, not only out
of reach, but out of mind.
And when God forgives, he forgets.
Which is so much better than we can
do.
What a God.
My beloved, listen.
You may be anxious, I hope you are.
If you're not in the family, I hope
you're anxious to be in the family.
Here's the way.
In Christ we have redemption, and it's in
his person.
The power of it is through his blood.
The fruit of it will be when you
take him as your savior, and confess him,
and receive him.
You'll have the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus said to a man in Mark of
Matthew 9-2, some be of good cheer,
thy sins be forgiven thee.
And if there's a happy person that should
be a happy person, it's the one whose
sins are forgiven.
I hope you're one of them.
And if you're not, you can be.
And to think of the plenitude of God's
grace, according to the riches of his grace,
the unmerited favor, you do not deserve it,
and neither do I.
You can be saved.
And the moment you are, you're in the
family.
You're in the family.
For note this twelfth verse of our chapter.
The characteristic of every member of the family,
they possess the possession of sin being forgiven.
And you know, may I say, they have
it now.
Praise the Lord.
A present progression, as well as of eternal
duration, and righteously maintained for them by the
risen Savior at the right hand of God,
our great high priest, our great advocate, our
great living intercessor.
Oh beloved, may I ask the question plainly,
are you in the family of God?
Do you have your sins forgiven?
For John looks at the whole family, and
says, I write unto you children, because your
sins were forgiven you, for his name's sake.
Hallelujah.
To think that God would forgive our sins
for the sake of his beloved son.
Oh what a salvation.
Isn't he, I add, and it's so lovely
to talk about getting children.
It's so wonderful to have children.
But you know it becomes another problem to
raise children, which some of us might know.
And likewise, that seems to be the case
with God.
The father of his own family.
He has a lot of difficulty with his
own children, believe it or not.
And if he writes to them in this
portion, God does something that no other could
do.
And he does something that no other should
do, perhaps I rather should say.
God divides his family.
And in the scripture we have read, it
classifies the family belonging to him in three
divisions.
Now as long as I can read the
word of God, no other is alright to
divide God's children.
But some take the prerogative, unfortunately.
But the family is one.
And to the heart of the father they
are one.
They are his children.
Why are they his children?
He has redeemed them.
He has forgiven them.
Through his son they've been brought into the
family.
The family is one.
And my beloved brother and sister, I earnestly
plead that in your affection and in your
practical dealing with the children of God, you
may ever remember, the family is one.
And every child to the father's heart is
as precious as the other.
But then, very similarly as in an earthly
family, you have different grades of growth.
You have older children and younger children.
And you have family grades of growing up.
Likewise does God in his family.
The father recognizes, and John specifies particularly, there
are three grades of development in the family
of God.
Note that in verse 13, he mentions the
three of them.
I write unto you fathers, because you've known
him but it's from the beginning.
I write unto you young men, because ye
have overcome the wicked one.
I write unto you little children, because ye
have known the father.
Now here you find the three grades of
development and growth in the family of God.
God's children have to grow.
Peter said, as newborn babes desire the sincere
milk of the word, that ye may grow
thereby.
And as God watches his children, he notices
their spiritual development and growth.
Some of them come to the maturity of
being called fathers.
Others go on developing, and are classified as
young men, so typical of their strength and
their power.
Others are little children, in the infant classes
it were, of the family life.
And these are the three classifications of the
human family, and the three divisions of God's
family, as he classifies them, based upon their
spiritual development and their growth.
But now note with me, as you go
to verse 14, the first classification.
Let's look at the family, and see first
of all, those whom he classifies as fathers.
And you will note, in verse 14, he
only repeats what he has stated in verse
13, about the fathers.
I have written unto you fathers, because ye
have known him, that is, from the beginning.
Now may I again repeat with emphasis, the
expression father specifies spiritual attainment only.
Not necessarily physical years, though spiritual attainment may
be found chiefly among elderly believers.
But then on the other hand, many elderly
believers may still be bathed in Christ, when
they should have developed into being fathers.
But the classification specifies spiritual attainment only.
And the special characteristic of the fathers is
declared, ye have known him, that is, from
the beginning.
Who's him?
Beloved, the one to whom the apostle refers
is none other than the Son.
As you may find from the very opening
of the epistle in chapter one, verse one
through verse...
He that was from the beginning, that blessed
Son of God, ye have known him.
And may I point out that the verb
known, as it is written here, is in
the perfect tense, indicating that the state produced
continues, and they have gone on faithfully, growing
in grace and in the knowledge of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Just let me briefly suggest, and it will
suffice, this is the attainment of spiritual development,
where the believer has gone on knowing more
of the Lord Jesus, and continuing in that
path to the place of spiritual maturity in
the family of God.
Oh beloved, this is the ideal.
This is the ideal for every believer.
And thus to recognize, these are those who
have found constant delight in that blessed Christ
whom they have found in himself, in what
he is, in all of his moral beauty,
in all of his moral perfection, in all
of his moral excellences, and they have been
occupied wholly with Christ, as we sang tonight.
They have proved more about Jesus would I
know.
Oh beloved, you'll never exhaust, from this book
you will never exhaust, all you may know
of Christ.
Never.
We must never be going on, day by
day, in fellowship with him, and his words,
by the Spirit, and faithfully continue from the
time we have found him, and go on
knowing him, and continuing in the knowledge of
Christ.
Let me quote Peter's words at the end
of his second epistle, as he wrote them
in chapter three, verse fifteen.
But growing great, and in the knowledge of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Oh beloved, may I point out something?
From what we've already studied, those that go
on to know more about the Son, they
learn more about the Father.
By the same measure, being occupied with Christ,
they know more about the Father, for the
Father is displayed in Christ.
Beloved, may I put before you briefly, this
is the ideal goal, if you're in the
family of God.
This is the objective that you and I
should be aiming at.
Don't be satisfied just to have your sins
forgiven.
That's precious.
That ought to make you happy, and should,
and will, even through eternity.
I remember when I was a boy, named
him as the Lamb.
Never will I forget a solemn lesson that
came to my attention in my early days.
Perhaps I wasn't more of an eight than
nine.
But as children do, sometimes we varied our
method, our way of going to school.
And occasionally there was a certain path that
we took towards school, that took us by
a home, where sometimes we would see, sitting
in a high chair in front of the
home, whether permitting, a young child.
The child looked no more to be than
10 or 12 months of age, sitting in
a high chair.
That child was 21 years of age.
Some physical malfunction hindered the development and growth
of that young child.
Born as a babe, yet never matured more
than the size as well as the mentality
of an infant.
My beloved, just let me state carefully and
prayerfully, let you and I realize the spiritual
responsibility, if we are the children of God,
to grow.
Feeding upon the word of God, feeding upon
the Christ of God, occupied with himself, and
singing his glory in the book, and going
on to the maturity which indicates spiritual development
and spiritual attainment.
Not the second classification.
Now you can see the grade.
From maturity we come down in verse 14th
verse, John says in the center of it,
I've written unto you young men, because ye
are strong, the word of God abideth in
you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
Now here's another classification.
There are three particular characteristics describing the young
man.
The young men, we know, usually pride themselves
by nature for their strength.
And John refers to the spiritual strength of
those that are termed young men.
There are three characteristics of them.
Note what he says first.
You've overcome the wicked, or first of all,
you're strong.
They pose that spiritual strength, thank God for
that.
One suddenly rejoices to see young men with
spiritual strength.
One of the ambitions, the natural ambitions of
a young lad, it was mine own, was
to be physically strong.
I was puny, I was skinny, they called
me skinny, and I determined I'd get away
from it.
And so being such a wise boy as
I thought I was, I bought the heaviest
dumbbells that I could carry home.
Dumbbells I want, in order to develop strength.
Well that was the physical ambition.
My beloved, far greater in importance than necessity,
is for a believer to develop spiritual strength.
Paul writing to Timothy said, be strong in
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And how necessary to thus be developed and
possess spiritual strength.
Can I add just a word of entreating?
We're not young people here at large, mostly
in the older class, but wouldn't you know
that our young recognize the importance of spiritual
strength.
The necessity of being spiritually strong.
So meaningful today.
The second characteristic of these young men, which
was the source of their strength, the word
of God dwelt in their hearts.
Because ye are strong, and the word of
God abideth in you.
Oh beloved, this was the source of their
strength.
The abiding of the word of God in
their hearts.
Well did the psalmist say, thy word have
I heard in my heart, that I might
not sin against thee.
Jeremiah said, thy words were found and I
did eat them, and they were to me
the joy of the rejoicing of my heart,
for I am called.
Daniel said, if he spoke of the angel,
who came to him with a divine message,
when he had spoken unto me, I would
strengthen them.
And oh beloved, the secret of a believer's
strength is the partaking, the eating, the masticating,
and the speaking of the word of God
into his and her soul, his and her
life.
You are strong through the word of God,
which abideth in you.
You know it's a joy to realize he
wants the word in us.
And then note, the result is this.
The result of the strength.
They were victorious over the wicked one.
Ye have overcome the wicked one, he was
faithful.
And thank God for the young men.
But then you will note, John writes very
little to the fathers, he writes somewhat more
to the young men.
And he writes much more to the little
children.
But to the young men he points out
an ever-present danger in verse 15, 16
and 17.
Love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love
of the father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not of the father, but is of the
world.
And the world passes away of the lust
thereof, but he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever.
Now may I point out the dangers very
carefully.
First of all, let me begin by noting
with you at the end of verse 15.
It is possible for the young believer to
lose, or for any believer to lose, the
affection of the father.
Oh, don't let me say that the father
will never love his child.
But note what John says, note the word
carefully all the way through.
If any man love the world, the love
of the father is not in him.
Now let's be very careful, and let's be
very sure that what is indicated, the heart
of this believer cannot be placed in its
enjoyment, and with its affection, upon the world,
and at the same time be in the
enjoyment of the love of the father.
They don't go together.
Love not the world.
If any man love the world, the love
of the father is not in him.
I think we all remember in our family
experiences of occasion, when we were young particularly,
when there was a coldness betwixt the parent
and the child, and the love of the
parent was not able to be poured upon
the child.
Why?
Usually because of the disobedience of the child.
There's been occasions.
I'll never forget one day when I hit
a baseball right through the front window, I
went around three, four blocks before I came
home to look at my dad.
I didn't know what he was going to
do.
There was a breeze in my woodblock.
The danger is putting the affection upon the
world.
Not only the world, but the things that
are in it.
Note those two distinctions.
Love not the world, neither the things that
are in the world.
The world is that system of things under
Satan, who's the god of this thing, the
prince of this world, the one in whom
it lies.
The world lies in the hands of the
wicked one, John Wright, in the fifth chapter
of this book.
And the believer, please may I remind you,
the world crucified your Savior and mine.
Paul said, God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of Christ my Lord,
by whom the world is crucified underneath, and
I under the world.
And my beloved, may I say this, look,
this world is no different than what it
was in Calvary.
This world has stated what it would do
and have done with the coming of God,
and would do again if he were here.
James very, very, very severely reprimands the believer
in his epistle, who is a spiritual adulterer,
by seeking the world and not the things
which are of God.
Oh, do we may realize this was the
danger for the young men, to love the
world.
And then John particularly states what the world
consists of, two things mainly, lust and pride.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eye, and then the pride of life.
Lust, wanting what we have not, and then
when we have it, proud that we possess
it.
That's the world.
But, says John, that world is passing.
The world passeth away, and the lust thereof,
but he that doeth the will of God
abideth forever.
Oh, I remember a dear old brother to
whom I said years ago in my youth,
perhaps in my early married days, I seek
to go on and seeking to go on
for the Lord and with the Lord.
And to this dear old brother in Christ
who knew the word of God so blessedly,
I said brother, I wish I knew my
Bible like you know it.
And do you know what he said to
me?
He said, Johnny, you can if you pay
the price.
You can if you pay the price.
Like one Christian has said, you may have
heard the quotation.
To another, I'd give the world if I
knew my Bible as you do.
And the other said, that's just what I
gave.
Beloved, let's be sensible.
May I point out, and I do not
say this in a disparaging spirit, but one
of the great reasons that the believers of
today do not know their Bible is because
of the world that has snared them with
its responsibility and even its pleasure.
I tell you frankly, I believe with all
earnestness that if I turn to the world
for my satisfaction, I will lose my grip
on spiritual things.
You can't have both.
That was the day.
And John reminds them of that day.
Honeywood today.
Oh may we indeed let the word of
God abide in our hearts.
For you know, the wise man wrote in
the Proverbs, by the truth shall it not.
For you know, the devil's ready to bid
for it any day.
And believe you me, he's got his bids
in already.
And he's taken away from many the truth
of God.
Now that brings us to the last category.
The classification of little children.
And may I point out briefly, that when
it comes to the little children, John writes
particularly of the greatest danger that faces the
youngest believers in the family.
And that danger itself prevailing today.
It is the danger of false teaching.
Go down with me to verse 26.
You have the crux of it there.
The whole crux of the section mentioned.
Beginning with verse 18, and going down through
verse 27, he ministers to the little children.
And the purpose of this ministry is in
verse 26.
These things have I written unto you, concerning
them that seduce you.
And the greatest danger to young children, to
the little children in the family of God,
is the seduction of false teaching.
The young men, they're strong.
The word of God is in them.
The fathers are mature.
The little children are in greater danger, for
the abundance of false teaching may surround them.
Now in the closing moment, and there briefly,
let me point out what John tells the
little children in seeking to find their source
of health and safety.
For the development of all, may I mention
this in passage, you can read the context
yourself, and you will have noted, the development
of all false teaching will culminate in the
coming of the Antichrist.
There are many Antichrists, John says, but the
continuation of these many false Christs, the continuation
of all false teaching, will someday culminate in
the appearance of the Antichrist.
And beloved, we must be near that time.
For there is more false teaching than any
other kind in the world today, unfortunately.
But know very briefly, the source of good
faith is that John suggests.
Verse 20, as he says to the children,
this is a fact that belongs to you,
you have an option from the Holy One
and you know all things.
What's he mean?
They possess the Holy Spirit of God.
Thank God that every believer, no matter how
young, is possessed by the Spirit of God.
They have a divine teacher.
Go down with me to verse 27 please,
link it with verse 27.
The anointing which you have received of him
abideth in you, and ye need not that
any man teach you.
Now what John is emphasizing is this.
You have the presence and the person of
the Holy Spirit.
He is your teacher, and he's not relegating
out the ministry of teaching in the Church
of God.
But he is bringing to the little children
one means of safety, the presence of the
Holy Spirit with power of word.
For to us ye have not received the
Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which
is of God, that ye may know the
things that are freely given to us of
God.
And may I encourage every believer, no matter
how young in the Lord, you've got the
same teacher I have, the Holy Spirit.
Hallelujah.
Praise his name.
You need not go astray.
Let the Holy Spirit be your guide and
the redeemer of the truth of God.
Note the second source of safety.
Look in verse 21.
I have not written unto you because ye
know the truth, because ye know not the
truth rather, but because you know it, and
that no lie is of the truth.
Now here's another basis of safety.
The truth you do know, don't ever give
it up for a lie.
For if you listen to false teachers and
follow their teachings, you're going to give up
the truth that God gave you.
And one of the safe ways of not
presenting such a catastrophe is to hold on
to the truth that you have.
The truth you know, bless it be God,
for the purpose of false teachers, and the
purpose of the devil through them, is to
take away the truth from God's dear children.
What you do know, don't make the mistake
of investigating erroneous teachings when you're just a
little child in the family of God.
And then a third thing, verse 24.
Let that therefore abide in you which ye
have heard from the beginning.
And if you keep what God has given
you through his word, by his spirit, which
you do know, if that which he has
heard from the beginning shall abide or remain
in you, ye also shall continue in the
Son and in the Father.
Oh, what a measure of faith, isn't it?
Hope you love it, listen.
Little children.
One of the saddest things that takes place
in Christian experience, is to see young believers
going astray from the truth of God.
And the word of God, as John writes
to the family, would indicate those ages of
the false teachings, and the method of sanctity
that they might follow, the Holy Spirit who's
within them, the anointing.
The truth of God that they have, and
that which they have learned, abide in it.
And as you abide in the truth you
know, you'll continue in the Son, and you'll
continue in the Father.
How long, you know, God's got a big
family, we give him an awful lot of
trouble I know.
But what to God that we followed what
he said.
I never forget when God came in a
mighty way, in my little experience, in my
early days, and saved so many precious souls
in a certain region of New York State.
And I had the joy of seeing many
souls come to the Lord, and the joy
was great for them as well as for
me.
But I want to tell you how I
had a lot of difficulty when I started
trying to teach them the word of God.
They had so much to unlearn, and I
had great difficulty, and I found it was
a lot easier to have babies than to
bring them up.
God likewise, said oh what a Father we
have.
And what joy to realize he's made provision
to commend those who go on to spiritual
attainment as fathers.
To encourage those who are coming along as
young men, and to guide and counsel and
encourage the little children to go on in
the Son and in the Father.
Praise the Lord.
If we'd only listened to our Father we'd
all get along much better.
Shall we pray?
Oh blessed Father we thank thee for thy
word.
We thank thee for thyself.
We thank thee for thy Son.
We thank thee for thy family.
We unite our hearts tonight to thank thee
that the family is one.
Wherever there is a born again soul, wherever
a blood-bought redeemed child is thine, they're
in the family.
And what is true of one is true
of all.
Their sins have been forgiven.
Now Father we would be concerned about our
family.
We pray tonight the Holy Spirit will speak
to each of us.
Where are we?
Little children?
Young men?
Or fathers?
And then Father we think of that one
or if there are more who may not
be in the family.
Lord we want them in.
And none doth desire them to come in.
Tonight we pray May that soul turn their
hearts right now.
Convicted and convinced the Father loves them.
Christ has loved and died for them.
And the Father's waiting to receive them.
May they come with the Son and through
the Son.
For Jesus said I'm the way, the truth,
and the life.
No man cometh under the Father but by
me.
May some precious soul be added into the
family.
We'd like to hear the cry of a
newborn babe.
May it be tonight.
For we ask it in the name of
the Lord Jesus.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of our Father God, the fellowship
or the conviction of the Holy Spirit be
upon us.
Amen.