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But 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2, we're going to 
look at verses 12 through 14 this evening. That's 1 John chapter 
2, but I will begin reading at verse 3 to set the context a 
little bit for us. 1 John chapter 2, begin reading 
at verse 3. Now by this we know that we know 
him, if we keep his commandments. He who says, I know him, and 
does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not 
in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is 
perfected in him. By this we know that we are in 
him. He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk 
just as he walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment 
to you, but an old commandment, which you have had from the beginning. 
The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. 
Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in 
him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true 
light is already shining. He who says he is in the light 
and hates his brother is in darkness until now. But he who loves his 
brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling 
in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness, and walks 
in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the 
darkness has blinded his eyes. I write to you, little children, 
because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake. I write 
to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the 
beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome 
the wicked one. And I have written to you, little 
children, because you have known the Father. I have written to 
you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. 
I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, 
and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the 
wicked one. Amen. Well, let us go to our 
God in prayer. O Lord God Almighty, we know 
the many difficult things we face in this life as we live 
in this age still, O God. We thank you for Christ who came, 
lived, died, and rose again, that those who are saved have 
the Holy Spirit. We live with foretaste in the 
down payment of the life to come. We thank you for the spiritual 
blessings in the heavenly places. We thank you, O God, for the 
true spiritual state of your people, how we truly now have 
forgiveness, how we truly know the Father, how we truly know 
the One who is from the beginning, and how we have overcome the 
evil one. Father God, these are truths, 
these are realities for God's people. And may these things 
give us comfort and hope and assurance of the truth, assurance 
of eternal life. Yet, O God, sometimes we are 
quick to forget these things. There are many trials that come 
into our life, many difficulties that we face, O God, and yet 
we forget these things. But help us, O God, to be reminded 
of these things this evening, that they might give us comfort, 
they might give us hope, they might give us courage, O God. 
For these things are true, whether we feel like it or not. These 
things are assured because of Christ, who has come. Father 
God, may this give us assurance and hope. May you comfort us 
and strengthen us in the difficult times that we face, O God. We 
thank you for the hope that we have in the Lord Christ. We pray 
that you would dwell with us now by your Holy Spirit, that 
we might be reminded of these things, O God, that we might 
be encouraged by these things, and that we might rest assured 
of the things found in your Word. And Father God, we pray that 
you give us eyes to see and ears to hear these things that are 
true of us now, even though it is difficult for us to see these 
things. We thank you that they are revealed in your Word, and 
you are pleased to illumine our hearts and minds by the Holy 
Spirit. And Father God, we pray for those that do not know Christ, 
they would realize that their sins are not forgiven, that they 
do not know Him who is from the beginning, and that they have 
not overcome the evil one. show them their sin, show them 
their need for the Lord, that they might come to saving knowledge 
and believe on the Lord Christ and have these benefits, have 
these privileges. And we thank you that it's all 
based on Christ, who is our advocate, who is the propitiation for our 
sins, who is that great high priest we learned about today, 
O God, that we can boldly approach the throne of grace for Christ, 
who is of the order of Melchizedek, that perpetual priesthood. We 
thank you for these things, O God. We thank you for him, O God. We pray that you'd help us now 
by your spirit to understand these things. We pray ultimately 
that you would be glorified in the name of Christ. Amen. Well, 
John, in 1 John, again, is writing to assure his hearers that they 
have eternal life. He's writing to them that they 
might know that they have eternal life, those who have believed 
on the Son of God. And then John fleshes this out 
in two ways, in two points of a sermon, if you will. in 1 John 
1.5 to 2.29, and then 1 John 3.1 to 5.13, with an intro and 
a conclusion at the beginning and end of his book. So, in a 
lot of ways, it's structured like a sermon. If you remember 
last time, it was some time back, we looked at how do we know that 
we know Him. In verses 3 through 6, we saw 
what is required of God's people, that is, a way to live that pleases 
God in response to His salvation. And in verses 7 through 11, we 
saw the commandment of love. This old commandment, yet a new 
commandment, because it's patterned after our Lord and Savior, Jesus 
Christ. And then we come to verses 12 
through 14. I think it's a fitting three 
verses for us to return to, because we haven't been in 1 John in 
a very long time. And 1 John 2, 12 through 14 is 
a recap of things that are said before, and even further assures 
the people, John's hearers, that they are children of God. It 
assures them of their spiritual state before the Lord God Almighty. And if you remember, the overarching 
problem is that there were some men who claimed to be children 
of God. And then here he's further highlighting 
what it actually means to be a children of God, what benefits 
one has to be a child of God. These men denied that they are 
sinful. Therefore, they deny that they have they say they 
have fellowship, but they don't. These men claim to know God, 
but they deny the gospel. And thus they are not children 
of God. God. And thus they don't have 
these benefits. They don't have the true spiritual 
state of God's people. And so perhaps we can ask ourselves 
this question as we go. What is the true spiritual state 
of God's children? And that's the thing we're going 
to seek to answer as we go through. Perhaps you can ask yourself, 
what is the reality if you're a believer? If you know the Lord, 
what is true of you are the very things that John highlights here 
for his readers, regardless of how we feel concerning those 
things. Those things remain true whether 
we feel like it or not. In the difficulties, in the tough 
times, we see here what it is is actually fixed and firm because 
of Christ our Lord. So what is this true spiritual 
state of God's children? Well, those are our three points. 
The forgiveness of sins is the first point. The knowledge of 
the gospel is the second point. And then lastly, we have the 
strength over the evil one. So forgiveness, knowledge, and 
strength. Let us first look at the forgiveness 
of sins. As I said many times throughout 
1 John, 1 John is a difficult book to structure. But I think 
as we look at the structure of the two verses, there are two 
triads, two sets of three. And we see the same formula in 
all three. John says, I write to you. Then 
he has an address of who he's speaking to, little children, 
fathers, or young men. And then he gives the reason 
for why he is writing, highlighting for them their spiritual state. 
And the verbs here are all in the same form, which is significant, 
which I'll draw out in just a moment. But it is the same. I write to 
you. I write to you. I write to you. 
And I think I could go with the ESV with respect to the proper 
translation. It should then say again, I have 
written to you, I have written to you, I have written to you. Two sets of three, two triads. The repeated phrase, I write 
to you, and then I have written to you. And what's kind of interesting 
here is some have speculated, why does John change the tense? The reality is he does that because 
he's a man. He does it for stylistic reasons. 
Sometimes it gets boring to write, I write you, six times. So he changes it up a little 
bit, but he uses, even though it's one's present, one's past, 
it's still highlighting the same thing. For the past is still 
being used like a present in this instance. So he's doing 
that because he's a man. You see, when the men recorded 
scripture, it wasn't like they were robots. It wasn't as though 
that they just all of a sudden had this moment and then they 
wrote kind of whatever. God worked by the Spirit. Certainly 
every word we see in Scripture is inspired, but it is because 
the Holy Spirit works, but also He works through men who have 
different backgrounds, different training, and different styles. And so we see that here as well, 
and we'll draw this out in a moment, with little children. But he 
says, I write to you, because he is a man. He is not a robot. We shouldn't make a big deal 
out of it more than we should. And so that's what's going on. 
That's part of the structure. And it's structured around these, 
I write to you's. And this phrase, I write to you, 
is found often in John. We've seen it already in 1, 4. And these things, we write to 
you that your joy might be full. And then in 2.1, He further highlights why he's 
writing to his hearers. And notice the first addressee 
in verse 12. I write to you little children. Notice he says little children 
in 12 and then also in 13. I write to you little children. 
That is, even though they're actually different words, but 
they're highlighting the same thing. Again, he doesn't want 
to be repetitive. He uses several phrases to highlight 
who his people are, to highlight the spiritual community using 
a term of endearment for his people. He highlights beloved. 
He says little children. He says little children in several 
different ways because he loves his hearers. He loves his people 
and is writing to them that they might, in this instance, know 
their true spiritual state. And again, there's some debate 
on how we need to structure children, fathers, and young men. I take 
the view that little children refers to the whole community, 
because he uses that in other parts of his epistle for the 
whole community. And then he goes on with fathers 
and young men to deal with different people or different spiritual 
states, if you will. So little children with the subset 
of fathers and young men. So he addresses these children 
using a term of spiritual endearment, focusing on that spiritual connection. But in all these sayings, we 
see the reasons for him writing. I write to you, little children, 
because... You see, as we've gone through 
in 1 John, a lot of ways, there are a lot of hypotheticals, aren't 
they? If we say this, if we don't say that, if we say we have sin, 
then we make him out to be a liar. But if we say we don't have sin, 
we make him out to be a liar. But if we say that we have sin, 
he is faithful and just. A lot of hypotheticals. What's 
he doing here in verses 12 through 14? He's driving the point home. Children. I write to you because 
your sins are forgiven. And he's going to draw that out 
as we go through as well with fathers and young men, little 
children. The reason I'm writing these 
things to you is to assure you this is your actual spiritual 
state. Again, all these were hypotheticals, 
all these were potentials, all these were maybes, even though 
we drew out the application. But here in his epistle, he's 
further driving home the point. And there's a lot of connections. 
Notice he says, because your sins are forgiven. Doesn't this hearken back to 
1 John 1 verses 5-10? And even specifically in 1 John 
9. In that whole section, he's talking about sin. Those who 
denied sin, those who did away with sin, thought that they never 
sinned. And then in verse 9 he says, if we confess our sins, 
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us 
from all unrighteousness. Why? Verse 12, because your sins 
are forgiven. What does that even mean to have 
our sins forgiven, brothers and sisters? I like how one commentator 
wrote it, to release from legal or moral obligation. That is, 
we owe God something. We owe God a debt, a great debt, 
an eternal debt, something that is required for eternity. Yet 
God, in His mercy, with respect to forgiveness, releases us from 
that reality. God has forgiven us. God has 
forgiven us of our sins. If we confess our sins, He is 
faithful and just to forgive us, because our sins are forgiven. And so the reality is we must 
acknowledge that there's the present reality of sin, and to 
deny this takes away our need and makes the gospel nothing. 
Why do we need the gospel if we don't have sin? We need forgiveness 
of sins from Christ our Lord. And notice he says, because your 
sins are forgiven. You see, all these words, all 
these verbs, and all the verbs used here with the connection 
with the because, highlight the reality and focus on state. This is the state that we are 
in. This is the true reality now, 
that we actually have forgiveness of sins. That's hard sometimes 
to wrap our heads around, isn't it? Because we still sin. We still have remaining corruption. 
But that doesn't change the reality that right now, if we know the 
Lord Christ, our sins are forgiven. So when we go to Christ confessing 
our sins, it's more for us. than for our standing before 
God. Because we are right before God, because Christ has died 
for His people and taken away, or bore the sins upon Him, that 
we might be released from that punishment. That blessed language 
of surety comes back again here that we talked about this morning. 
That's creditor-debtor language. Christ not only pays the debt, 
but takes on the punishment. That's what surety refers to. 
That's what surety means. And so the forgiveness of sins 
is the reality now. And all the verbs in this section 
highlight that. And that's good. Sometimes when 
you're reading, sometimes you don't need to make a big deal 
out of verbs, but in this case, it's okay to do that because 
they're not used often, especially with this form. here. So he's 
highlighting that. It's an ongoing state for God's 
people. And I think this harkens back 
to the Old Testament. Several passages that describe 
the new covenant realities. Jeremiah 31, 31 through 34. Jeremiah 
31, 31 through 34, especially verse 34. He says, Notice verse 33. No more shall every man teach 
his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, 
for they shall know me from the least of them to the greatest, 
says the Lord. For what? I will forgive their 
iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more. That's 
true now of you if you know the Lord Christ. Well, what about 
Ezekiel 36? You know, if there are some good 
Old Testament passages to remember, Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 31, 31-34 
are great texts to do that because they highlight the reality of 
the New Covenant. And if you want to cheat a little 
bit, Jeremiah 31-34 is repeated in the New Testament. So you 
get a bigger bang for your buck when you remember verses in the 
Bible. So that's a good way of doing that as well. But notice 
Ezekiel 36, verse 27. I will put my spirit within you 
and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgment 
and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land 
that I gave to your fathers. You shall be my people, and I 
will be your God. Again, talking about old or new 
covenant realities. And I think it also is found 
in Psalm 25 verse 11, which is what Pastor Cam read for us at 
the outset of worship, describing deliverance and forgiveness. describing the deliverance from 
our sins, describing the mercies of our God, especially verse 
six. Remember, O Lord, your tender mercies and your loving kindness, 
for they are from old. Do not remember the sins of my 
youth nor my transgressions. According to your mercy, remember 
me. For your goodness' sake, O Lord. And then even notice 
in 11. For your name's sake, O Lord, 
pardon my iniquity, for it is great. And brethren, our iniquity 
is pardoned in the Lord Christ. And so the comfort is, notice 
further, your sins are forgiven for His name's sake. This, no doubt, refers to the 
Lord Christ. And this is evident in 3.24 and 
5.13. Sorry, 3.23. And this is His 
commandment, 1 John 3.23. And this is His commandment that 
we should believe on what? The name of His Son, Jesus Christ. And then 5.13. These things I 
have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. Notice even the connection between 
belief, assurance, and eternal life. That you may know that 
you have eternal life. So we have this forgiveness through 
Christ's name. The basis for our forgiveness 
is Christ's work, which is what has already been talked about 
in 1 John. Again, he's recapping all the 
things we've talked about. 1 John 2, verses 1 and 2. My little children, these things 
I write to you so that you might not sin, but if anyone sins, 
we have an advocate. with the Father, Jesus Christ 
the righteous. And notice how we can have forgiveness 
of sins, and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins. Not for ours only, but also for 
the whole world. That is, He takes away our sin 
with His sacrificial work. We talked about that high priest 
this morning. We learned further about the high priest of Christ 
who makes sacrifice for sins, taking away our sins, and thus 
sits down at the right hand of the majesty on high and lives 
to make intercession as an advocate for his people. in difficult 
times, when we are struggling, when we are mourning, when we 
are facing difficulties in this life, when we have physical ailments. 
God is with His people, and Christ prays for us as our advocate. You see, they are heavenly realities 
that we participate in now. And it's the basis is on Christ 
and Christ alone. Forgiveness is found on Him and 
Him alone. It is not based on anything you 
and I would do. And our assurance is not based 
on our works, but our assurance is based on Christ's work. Notice, 
listen to John Calvin. Without this assurance, religion 
would not be otherwise than fading and shadowy. Nay, they who pass 
by the free remission of sins and dwell on other things build 
without a foundation. We do have a firm foundation, 
ye saints of the Lord, and that is our Christ Almighty. So he 
says, I write these things to you little children, in verse 
12, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. But notice 
in verse 13, at the end, I write to you, or I have written to 
you, little children, because you have known the Father. I think sometimes, again, we 
treat, we're very much visual beings, aren't we? Pastor Cam 
highlighted that out this morning with the Hebrews. They wanted 
to go back to what is tangible, what is seen, the sacrifice that 
that could bring to the altar. It's true of us today as well. 
We prefer motion pictures over books in a lot of ways. We prefer 
things that go quickly past our faces rather than actually sitting 
down and reading a book. And so the reality is we're very 
much visual beings. We want that. You look at a lot 
of history. You look at Pentecostalism, how 
it arose. It's because it's a response 
to the Enlightenment. Seeing, thinking, feeling, all 
tangible things. So when Pentecostalism arises, 
what's it a response to? They want something they see. 
They want something they touch. They want something that's visible 
to the mind and quick to understand. But that's not necessarily our 
greatest comfort. Our greatest comforts are in 
the heavenly realities found in the Word of God. But that's 
difficult for us, isn't it? That doesn't change the fact 
that it is true. But brothers and sisters, when 
you read the Apostle Paul, he's speaking that way. You know, 
it's like predestination. When you're learning about predestination, 
you're reading it, you see it everywhere. This stuff about 
understanding the heavenly realities that we participate in part now, 
I see it everywhere and it's everywhere. I'm seeing it everywhere 
in Scripture, brothers and sisters. It's everywhere. It really is. 
I know I've talked about it a lot, it's a broken record sometimes, 
but it is there and it is true. Ephesians. The spiritual blessings 
in the heavenly places. And this is John's way of highlighting 
the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. Forgiveness 
of sins and knowing the Father. Access to the Father. You know, 
Calvin is right. He says we were like orphans 
until we attained the grace of adoption by the Gospel. This is what John's highlighting. We are adopted as sons, as daughters, 
that we might have access to the God of heaven and earth through 
Jesus Christ, that we might boldly approach that throne of grace. And this ties back to what is 
said in 1 John 1.5. This is the message which we 
have heard from him and declared to you that God is light and 
in him is no darkness at all. What's going on in 1 John 1.5? 
How can we dwell with this God who is inaccessible light? We 
need forgiveness of sins. So there's a connection between 
forgiveness of sins and knowing the Father. That's why I put 
these two together. That is, how do we know the Father? 
It's because our sins have been forgiven. That's what he's highlighting. That's what he's focusing on. 
And he's highlighting for us this present reality, that our 
sins are forgiven now. Remember what Gil said. I quoted 
Gil when I looked at 1 John 1, 5 through 10. Remember, Gil said, 
go to God seeking forgiveness as a poor, sensible sinner, not 
as though there is no forgiveness. Whether we feel there is forgiveness 
or not, that does not change the reality there is. We have 
forgiveness now in the heavenly places, if you know Christ the 
Lord. But the reality is, if you do 
not know Christ the Lord, the converse is true of you. You 
do not have forgiveness of sins, and you must pay that debt in 
full, which is an eternal debt that is owed to God. So that's the reality, the spiritual 
state of God's people. We have forgiveness. And so then 
let's move to the second benefit, or the second, how do we know 
our spiritual state? The second thing draws out, namely, 
the knowledge of the gospel. Notice what he says in verse 
13. The addressee changes. I write 
to you, fathers. Now this again refers to not 
so much age, but spiritual maturity. Now certainly age is involved, 
certainly we need to proceed with respect of our older brothers 
and sisters, but here he's speaking with respect to maturity. And perhaps the reason he is 
highlighting this here is because, notice because, he's giving us 
another reason, you have known him who is from the beginning. And again, perhaps the reason 
is because there are false teachers that were teaching that they 
had secret knowledge. What's John saying? I don't need 
secret knowledge. You know Him who is from the 
beginning. You know the gospel. You have 
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. You know Him as He's found in 
His Word. You have forgiveness, but you 
also have union with the Christ. You know Him who is from the 
beginning. So this benefit very much highlights 
that you know this one already. Now I should say, because we 
live in the age that we do, fathers and young men refers to both 
genders. It refers to both men and women. And even we can take 
what we say about fathers and young men and apply them to all 
Christians, but he's highlighting certain men or certain categories, 
if you will, in the Christian life for certain reasons. I write 
to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning. So he's writing to remind them 
of the true knowledge. But perhaps he's also reminding 
as well that perhaps sometimes we measure wisdom in years, which 
can cause pride. And that's probably what he's 
highlighting. You don't need wisdom based on years. You need 
wisdom based on the Lord Jesus Christ. So he says, you have 
known him. And this language again is the 
language that's repeated throughout John's epistle, combating those 
false men who taught false things, who taught that they had special 
knowledge. But he's saying, you have known him who is from the 
beginning. I think in this instance it's referring to a person, him 
who is from the beginning, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. He's then 
bringing us into the Christological focus, focusing on who our Lord 
is, the one who is found in the gospel, that one that they had 
heard from the beginning, according to 1 John 1-4, the one they heard, 
the one they saw, the one that they touched, who actually came 
in the flesh. They have known Him who is from 
the beginning. They know Christ who is from 
the beginning. Why seek knowledge elsewhere? Why go any place else 
to find knowledge, to find the secrets of the universe, to find 
the way of salvation? It's found in Christ and Christ 
alone. Christ is from the beginning, 
according to John 1.1. Christ is the firstborn of creation, 
according to Colossians chapter 1. Christ is the image of God, 
according to Hebrews chapter 1. And He is the one in whom 
these ones have known from the beginning. And so perhaps even 
when we think about this idea of wisdom, as we think about 
its place, you see wisdom is based on truth, not age. As Calvin says, it will be of 
no avail, however long it may have existed, if it derives its 
origin from error. There are many people in this 
life who don't profess to be Christ, who claim to be wise. Perhaps many different religious 
leaders or moral men claim to have wisdom. Unless you know 
the Lord Christ, you don't have any wisdom. You don't have true 
wisdom, the wisdom found in Christ. And even combating these false 
men who taught this secret knowledge, they were teaching wisdom came 
through special knowledge instead of secret knowledge, instead 
of revealed And so the reality is, as Calvin says, if antiquity 
delights you, ye have Christ who is superior to all antiquity. Therefore his disciples ought 
not to be ashamed of him who includes all ages in himself. You think you have wisdom? Look 
to the Lord Christ. You think age is the way of wisdom? 
Look to the Savior of heaven and earth, the one from everlasting 
to everlasting. I should say, when I say these 
things, I'm not saying, children, that you shouldn't respect your 
elders. You most certainly should do that. But the point is, we 
usually measure wisdom in years, but we should measure it by Christ. What does Proverbs 1 say? What 
is it talking about with respect to wisdom? The fear of the Lord 
is the beginning of wisdom. Not the age of years, but the 
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And so he's saying, 
you know Christ, you know the one from everlasting. This is 
the one you've known from the beginning. Why seek any knowledge 
somewhere else? And that is true of those who 
know Christ as well. You have known that state, that 
same use of that word. You have known Him who is from 
the beginning. The same is true of you if you 
know Christ the Lord. You know this one, who came, 
lived, died, and rose again. You have communion, you have 
union with God. And He's drawn this out several 
times in 1 John. 1 John 2, by this we know that 
we are in Him. 1 John 2.8, again, a new commandment. I write to you which thing is 
true in him and in you. We are united to this Lord. We 
are united to this Christ. We are united to this King. And this is where our wisdom 
comes from. We know the way of salvation, and that is only found 
in Christ the Lord, Christ the King. And again, it applies to 
people of all stages. This is where our wisdom is derived 
from. It is from Christ the King. And the converse is true again 
of those who don't know Christ. If it's true that believers know 
Christ, the converse is unbelievers do not know the Christ. They 
do not know Him who is from the beginning. They do not know where 
true wisdom actually lies, found in Christ the Lord. And if you 
wish to have forgiveness of sins, You have to know Him who is from 
the beginning. But the reality is this is a 
present reality for us now. Christ is seated at the right 
hand of God the Father. Christ is locally at the right 
hand of God the Father. And we know Him now. And He's revealed Himself to 
us in His Word, and He sent us His Spirit as a down payment 
for those heavenly realities. He is that firstfruits that we 
might know more concerning this One who is the agent of new creation. So this is the reality of knowing 
the gospel. We know the Christ. We know the 
God of heaven and earth. We know Him who is from everlasting 
to everlasting. So we have forgiveness of sins. 
We know the gospel. We know Christ. And then lastly, 
and third and finally, the strength over the evil one. This is my 
third point. Notice the addressees here. Young men. If fathers refer 
to those who are spiritually mature, this refers to those 
who are a bit younger with respect to their spiritual maturity. 
He says it in verse 13 and 14. He says, I write to you, young 
men, because you have overcome the wicked one. Notice that's 
one of the benefits for us, brethren. Think about that for a moment. 
We have overcome the evil one. And that most assuredly refers 
to the devil. You see, he repeats it. I write 
to you that you have overcome the evil one. And he says it 
again in verse 14. I have written to you, young 
man, and you at the end, and you have overcome the evil one. This most assuredly refers to 
the devil. Notice in 1 John 3, verse 8. He who sins is of the devil. 
For the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose 
the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works 
of the devil. Whoever has been born of God 
does not sin, for his seed remains in him. And he cannot sin because 
he has been born of God. But notice especially verse 8. 
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might 
destroy the works of the devil. What Old Testament text does 
John have in mind in 1 John 3.8? Genesis 3.15, where the seed of the woman would 
come and crush the head of the seed of the serpent. And the 
same thing is here. Christ was manifested that he 
might destroy the works of the devil. You see, brothers and 
sisters, we hold to penal substitutionary atonement. Christ died vicariously, 
that is, on behalf of his people. It's objective towards God. But 
that doesn't change the fact that when Christ came, lived, 
died, and rose again, He is a mighty warrior going on a conquest for 
His people, destroying the devil, destroying those things, which 
is what Genesis 3.15 and 1 John 3.8 highlight for us. Notice 
the reason you and I can overcome the world is because Christ has 
overcome the world. John highlights this for us in 
the Gospel of John, from the words of our Lord Christ. John 
12.31. He talks about the ruler of this 
world, and he says in 12.31, now is the judgment of this world. 
Now the ruler of the world will be cast out. And then also in John 14.30. 
I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world 
is coming, and he has nothing in me. But as the world may know 
that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandments, 
so I do. Arise, let us go from here." You see, Christ is that 
one. who crushed the head of the seed 
of the serpent. So the reason you and I have 
overcome the devil, overcome the evil one, is because Christ 
has overcome the evil one. And thus, as John goes to further, 
I guess, amplify in verse 14. Notice he says, I write to you 
young men, and he adds things to this instance. I didn't highlight 
how with respect to the fathers knowing him who was from the 
beginning, he didn't really amplify a whole lot there, it's the same. But here in verse 14, he says, 
I write to you young men, because you are strong. Sometimes I feel 
very weak. Sometimes I feel very down. Sometimes 
there are difficult things in life and I don't know sometimes 
if we can pick ourselves up. Christ is the one who makes us 
strong, but we are spiritually strong even when we are weak, 
and we are weak because he is strong. And that's what he's 
highlighting for us again. I write to you, young men, because 
you are strong. even though sometimes it doesn't 
always feel that way. We are strong spiritually because 
we have Christ our Lord. And the language, this word of 
strength and strong here, is found in Mark 1.8. John the Baptist is preaching 
concerning the coming Christ, whose sandals I am not able to 
suit. The one who comes is mightier 
than I. That language of mighty is the same word that's found 
here. And it's highlighting how Christ 
is the divine warrior. I really love that motif. I don't 
know why. It's just very cool. Christ comes, crushes the head 
of the serpent. Christ comes and crushes his 
enemies. Christ is the one who is mighty. And the language of overcoming 
in verse 14 and verse 13, with respect to us overcoming the 
wicked one, also carries that idea of conquering. that conquest 
idea? Because Christ has conquered. 
Christ has come on his conquest, destroying, that we might be 
considered strong. Christ is mighty. I cannot stand it, not saying 
I watch these things, but I cannot stand it when you hear about 
images of Christ, or movies about Christ, and they paint him out 
to be this feminine-looking character with flowing locks. That is just 
false for it's a violation of the first and the second commandment. 
But even further, Christ is a mighty warrior after the judges who 
are types of Christ, after David who crushed his enemies. And the same is true with our 
Lord Christ. And notice what he goes on to 
say, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you. What has He said concerning these 
false teachers? When they lie, when they say 
they have no sin, the Word is not in them. What is true of 
believers? The Word is in us and it remains 
in us. The word here can either refer 
to Christ or the gospel. I think it's both. Again, it 
refers to our union with Christ. The reason that we are strong 
is because Christ is strong. But not only that, we see the 
true power of the gospel in the reality that we have overcome. 
The evil one. That's what he's highlighting 
for us here. They're intimately connected. This is the reality 
for God's people. We are forgiven now. We know 
Christ now, and we have overcome the evil one now. That's what 
he's highlighting for us right now. Again, it's difficult for 
us to understand. In the language of the Apostle 
Paul, he speaks of this in Ephesians chapter 1, we live in the tension 
of this age and the age to come. This present evil age refers 
to the present reality of sin, but yet as believers we participate 
in part of the age to come, as it's come in Christ, as it's 
come with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and 
even further with the down payment of the Holy Spirit, which is 
the language Paul uses, down payment, first fruits, and other 
languages as well, is talking about that very reality. Now, 
but that's hard, again, hard for us to wrap our heads around. 
Now we have these things. And so even as we think of our 
daily battles, our daily struggles, we still have sin. And so the 
reality is that because we have overcome the devil, that should 
spur us on to fight. In Ephesians 6.10, when he speaks 
of the armor of God, how does he start before he goes into 
the discussion of the armor of God? Verse 10. Finally, my brethren, 
be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on 
the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against 
the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against 
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, 
against rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual 
hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the 
whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil 
day and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having girded 
your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 
having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of 
peace, having above all taken the shield of faith, which you 
will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation 
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying 
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful 
to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the 
saints, And for me, that utterance may be given to me that I may 
open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel." 
And he goes on to further highlight how he is an ambassador. But 
notice, it's spurring us on to fight. You see, as one writer 
says, this position of victory over the devil must be maintained 
daily with a firm faith in Christ and resolute striving against 
the devil and his temptations. Do you see the logic, brothers 
and sisters? It's not, as James says, resist the devil in order 
that you might overcome. You have overcome the devil, 
therefore resist the devil, and he will flee from you. This is 
a present reality, a true reality. That's what this writer is highlighting. And that's what John is highlighting 
for his people as well. Then he goes on to say, do not 
love the world or the things in the world. Remain in God. He speaks of those things. And 
in other places, Jesus talks about overcoming the world. I 
think in 1 John, he'll draw back to this idea as well. It's the 
present reality that we have overcome this evil one now in 
Christ our Lord. And when we think of, perhaps 
as we think through all these benefits, forgiveness, knowing 
Christ, and this reality of overcoming the devil, they are based and 
found in Christ our Lord, aren't they? Forgiveness, knowing Christ, 
and this overcoming. We have an advocate. We have 
this God in flesh one, according to verses one through four. We 
have the destroyer of the devil. We have Christ, our Lord, our 
might, our power, our strength. Now, when we have difficulties, 
and they're going to be difficulties, when we have tough moments and 
temptations and trials and struggles that we go through, we have Christ 
our might and Christ our Lord. You notice in Ephesians 6, he 
says, put on those things with prayer. I think as Luther said, perhaps 
we are very much a busy culture, aren't we? We always say we're 
very busy. As Luther said, the busier we get, the more we should 
pray. That is the truth, brothers and sisters. We must pray in 
the battle room before we engage in the battle. That's what he's 
highlighting here for us. That's what Paul is highlighting 
in Ephesians 6. That's the point because of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. As one writer says, The true 
believers who belong to John's congregation have thus been recalled 
in verses 12-14 to the assured character of their spiritual 
inheritance, the knowledge of God and His forgiveness, an abiding 
relationship with Christ, and spiritual strength to conquer 
the evil one in day-to-day living. It's all based and found in the 
Lord God Almighty, who comforts, strengthens, and helps us in 
the battles. So in conclusion, what is the 
spiritual state of God's children? The things we've just talked 
about. all three of those things that John is highlighting in 
this very beautiful text, the way he structures it, the way 
it's written, and the way he addresses it, driving the point 
home for his people, that they might be assured of these present 
realities in the midst of trials, in the midst of false teachers 
going out of them teaching false things. They have forgiveness, 
they have knowledge, they have strength. Now, unbelievers who 
are outside of Christ, the converse on all three of these things 
is true. Your sins are not forgiven. You do not know the Lord Christ, 
and you do not have strength, or you have not overcome the 
evil one. You must believe on this Christ. 
You must believe on what John says, the one who came, lived, 
died, and rose again, that you may have everlasting life. The 
reason he writes his gospel is so that people might read concerning 
Christ and that they might be spurred on to faith. The gospel 
is about spurring people on to faith. 1 John is about assuring 
his hearers that they have faith, that they are believers. So you 
must look to the Lord and believe on Him, and you shall have these 
heavenly realities, these spiritual realities, and you shall partake 
in these things. When you believe on Christ, these 
things shall be yours. Look to the Lord Christ and live. Believe on Him, and you shall 
be saved. And believers, may this be a 
comfort to us of our current spiritual state amidst the difficulties 
that we face. Well, let us go to our God in 
prayer. O Lord God Almighty, You really are gracious to us. 
You sustain us, You protect us, You help us in the difficult 
times and in the moments when we are weak. And God, we are 
weak often. But thank You, O Lord, that we are strong in Christ. 
We thank You, O Lord, that these realities are ours. May we think 
and think about heavenly things, eternal things, spiritual things 
often. May we set our mind on the things 
that are above, where Christ is at the right hand of God. 
May you give us wisdom and discernment in how to operate in this world 
as we live in the tension of these two ages. We thank you, 
O God, that Christ has come. We thank you for the foretastes 
that we see, O God. We thank you for that you are 
pleased to be with your people, that you dwell with your people. 
You are with us corporately, but you are with us individually 
as well, O God. You help and strengthen us in 
difficult times. Help us to know that we have 
the forgiveness of sins. Help us to know that we have 
known the Father. Help us to know, O God, that 
we know Christ, who is at the right hand. Help us to know, 
O God, that we have overcome the world, that we are strong, 
and that the Word of God remains in us. May this assure us, may 
this give us hope, may you comfort us by your Spirit, O God, through 
this blessed truth found in your Word. And Father God, we pray 
for those that do not know the Lord. We pray that you would 
save them. We pray that you would call them. 
We pray that you would show them their delusion. Show them that 
they are in sin, that they have this great debt that they must 
pay, O God, for you are an eternal God. You are a God who is holy 
and just. and may you work in them by your 
spirit and please to bring them to saving knowledge in this one 
who is from the beginning, in this one whom the apostles saw, 
who they touched, who they held, and that the gospel that we proclaim 
to others as well, that the apostles proclaim, that we proclaim, the 
same Christ and him crucified, that they might have everlasting 
life. Father God, again, we pray that 
all these would be to your glory, that we would sing your praises. 
We would sing your praises to you, O God, for your great work 
and salvation. And we pray that you'd be glorified 
now in the name of Christ. Amen. Well, we will finish by 
singing the doxology, and we will stand and sing the doxology. 
If you need the words, they're on Roman numeral XVI.