DATE: 6-4-23
SERIES: 1 John
SERMON: Confident Conquerors
TEXT: 1 John 2:12-14 (ESV)
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As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or are joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
We’re in a series where we’re studying the letter of First John. And John tells us why he wrote this letter in his words, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” - 1 John 5:13 (ESV)
And — with this being John’s purpose — we should expect everything we read in this letter to be connected to his purpose. John wants his readers to know whether or not they have eternal life. He wants them to have confidence that they’re true believers of Jesus Christ. He wants them to be assured that their love for God is genuine. And John wants this for us too.
By studying this letter, each of us can know with confidence whether or not we have eternal life. Whether or not we genuinely believe. Whether or not we truly love God.
And here are John’s words found in chapter two — beginning in verse twelve.
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. 13 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. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 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. - 1 John 2:12-14 (ESV)
Years ago I read a book titled “The Insanity of God” by Nik Ripken. Nik is a missionary who’s spent his life taking the gospel all around the world. Now the amazing, encouraging, and challenging thing about Nik’s book are his interviews with Christians from around the world who’ve been persecuted for their faith in Christ. Men, women, and children who’ve faced harassment, beatings, and have even faced death because they love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
There’s the story of one man — who’s not a pastor — he’s just a Christian in China who was arrested because he was a key lay leader in the underground church. For nine months he was held in a local prison and his family wasn’t allowed to see him. Every morning, one of the guards would take some of his own human waste and spread it on the piece of toast that was brought to him for breakfast. And on the day when he was being sent to another prison — nearly a thousand miles away from his family — the guards threatened to kill his family. And — in response — his wife said to the prison guards, “Sir, you can kill my husband. You can kill me. I know that you can even kill our son. But nothing you can do will separate us from the love that is in Jesus Christ!” She then saw her husband sent off to prison for ten years and found herself and her son being shipped away to another location as the authorities hoped to separate her from any support she had in her hometown.
Remarkably — their son eventually became a pastor and was also arrested for his faith. And here are Nik’s thoughts on the whole situation. “Despite decades of extreme hardship, the stories were joyful and hopeful. This young pastor — whose dad was imprisoned — was convinced that people flocked to Christ in greater numbers during difficult days of persecution because that’s when they could recognize how God sustains and strengthens his followers through times of trouble. He went on to say that…family is the believer’s greatest reservoir of faith and resistance in the face of persecution.”
And this pastor — whose father had been imprisoned and who himself had been imprisoned — said these words to Nik. “I thank God and I take great joy in knowing that I was suffering in prison in my country, so that you, Nik, could be free to share Jesus in Kentucky.” He went on to say, “I took great joy that I was suffering in my country, so that you could be free to witness in your country.” He then raised his voice in a prophet-like challenge that Nik knew would live with him forever: “Don’t ever give up in freedom what we would never have given up in persecution! That is our witness to the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ!”
Don’t ever give up in freedom what we would never have given up in persecution.
So here are some questions I want us to wrestle with today: how do our persecuted brothers and sisters have such joy in the midst of pain? How do they have the strength to prevail in the midst of adversity that we can’t relate to? How are they confident conquerors when they face the reality of being killed for their faith in Christ? And what can we learn from our verses — and from these examples — so we too are confident conquerors living out our faith in the freedoms we have in our country?
It begins by understanding this truth: Nothing can conquer a people who are living under the authority of the Word of God and by the power of the Spirit of God for the glory of God. Nothing can conquer a people who are living under the authority of the Word of God and by the power of the Spirit of God for the glory of God.
So how do we gain confidence as a group of conquerors who are living under the Word of God and by the power of the Spirit of God all for the glory of God?
First, our confidence grows by knowing that we’ve been forgiven for his name’s sake. We’ve been forgiven — not because of who we are or what we’ve done — but for the sake of God’s name. Look with me in verse twelve. “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven (And why are your sins forgiven?) for his name’s sake.” - 1 John 2:12 (ESV)
So what does it mean to be forgiven? John’s already told us. “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. 2 He ( Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins (that means Jesus is the atoning sacrifice or payment for our sins), and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” - 1 John 2:1-2 (ESV)
One Bible dictionary defines forgiveness as, “The freeing of a person from guilt and its consequences, including punishment; usually as an act of favor, compassion, or love, with the aim of restoring a broken personal relationship. Forgiveness can involve both the remission of punishment and the cancellation of debts.” (Dictionary of Biblical Themes)
And this is what John means by forgiveness. And — according to John — forgiveness is possible because of Jesus’ sacrifice. And — for those who believe in Jesus — your sins being forgiven is a fact. Why? Because Christ has died for your sins, canceled your debt to God, took your punishment, and satisfied all of the requirements for your salvation. And this is good news, right! There’s hope in this news — joy in this news — but don’t miss the promise in this news: You can know that your sins have been forgiven.
Which leads us to a second question: Why are we forgiven? Let’s make this personal. If you’re a Christian, why did God forgive you of your sins? “Because Jesus died for me.” Yes, that’s true — but that’s how you were forgiven. I’m asking why — why did God forgive you of your sins? God has forgiven you for his name’s sake.
“For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.” - Psalm 25:11 (ESV)
“Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!” - Psalm 79:9 (ESV)
“Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.” - Psalm 106:8 (ESV)
“But you, O God my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!” - Psalm 109:21 (ESV)
“Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name’s sake; for our back slidings are many; we have sinned against you.” - Jeremiah 14:7 (ESV)
Or — as God says, “For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off.” - Isaiah 48:9 (ESV)
God forgives people — he saves people — not so they have their best life now, not so every day is a Friday, and not for you to spend your life on yourself. God didn’t save us because he was lonely in Heaven, or so we get to have a dream vacation, or so that we can waste our lives in front of the TV, or to chase after the same exact dreams the unbelieving world chases after. No — the Bible is clear — God is clear. If you’re a Christian, you’ve been forgiven for his name’s sake. You’ve been saved for the purpose of God’s name and reputation going forth to the ends of the earth. And this purpose gives the people of God confidence as we live our lives for his name’s sake — and it gives us confidence in knowing that we have eternal life.
Now that we understand why we’re forgiven — I want us to look at how and why John writes to children, fathers, and young men. And — in my study — virtually everyone agrees that this is a picture of the spiritual maturity process that a Christian goes through in life.
Though we begin as children — there’s a maturing process that all Christians experience. And — in recognizing that all of us are on a spiritual journey — we must avoid the spiritual comparison trap. What do I mean? The example I like to use is to imagine you’re on a football field and you’re at the fifty yard line — right in the middle of the field — and the end zone you’re facing is the spiritual goal — that’s complete spiritual maturity.
Now — looking around — you see some folks who are more spiritually mature than you — they’re closer to the end zone. And — let’s be honest — that can be disheartening — a bit intimidating — those super spiritual Christians. So — you do what most of us do — and look behind you — where are all of the people who I’m so much more spiritually mature than? “I don’t do that Josh.” Sure you do — we all do. It’s not good — but we do it. And here’s the danger. Not only does it show pride in ourselves — but I call it a comparison trap — because it is a trap. It’s unreliable. It actually doesn’t tell you much of anything about anyone on the field.
“What do you mean, Josh?” Well take that person who’s one yard ahead of you — whatever that equals in spiritual maturity — what does that tell you? Not much of anything! For example, what if I told you that they were born in a Christian home, grew up in the church, had a Christian education, came to faith in Jesus at an early age — and all of that adds up to them — due to no credit of their own — being born on the fifty yard line — right where you’re standing. In all of their days, weeks, months, years, and decades of following Jesus they’ve traveled a yard spiritually.
And maybe you didn’t grow up in a Christian home — but due to some neighbor or friend — who kept inviting you to church — you came to faith in Jesus as a teenager. You didn’t have a Christian education. But you’ve taken your faith seriously now. So — in football terms — you’ve traveled ten yards. Even though the other person may be more spiritually mature than you — you’ve traveled farther down the field — and you’d never have known that just by comparing where you both are on the field.
And then there are those losers behind you. Some you can barely see because they’re on the one yard line. But then you hear their story. And their story is the equivalent of growing up so far from God that they started — not only out of the back of the end zone — but their spiritual journey doesn’t even begin in the stadium. You’ve got to leave the stadium, exit the parking lot, and travel three states over in order to see where their spiritual journey began. Sure — they may be on the one yard line — but they’ve traveled hundreds of miles — spiritually speaking — and you’ve gone ten yards.
What’s my point: avoid the spiritual comparison trap. If anything, compare your spiritual today self to your spiritual self of last year. For everyone who follows Jesus should be growing in our prayer life and Bible knowledge, in our generosity and in our serving — in all of the areas that we’re called to be growing according to God’s Word — but let’s grow together while not trapping ourselves in a lethal comparison game.
So — as we move through our text — what I don’t want anyone to think is that any of these groups aren’t believers. The people who are still in the infant stage of their faith are Christians. It’s OK to be an infant in the faith — but it’s not OK to stay there. So we all begin — as an infant — by understanding that we’ve been forgiven of our sins. And we just learned the reason why God has forgiven us — for the sake of God’s name — and that truth will change how we live — thus we mature out of infancy.
And the next stage of our maturing process is that we know God. Look with me in verse thirteen. “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning…I write to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.” - 1 John 2:13-14a (ESV)
So — right away — you notice that both the children and the fathers know God. And that’s because the progress — from childhood to adulthood in our faith — isn’t always nice little neat steps. But — as you progress in the faith — you will come to a place where you know God and — by that — John means — you’ll have an intimate understanding of who God is.
So who is God? There’s much that could be said, but what we see in our text is that God is from the beginning and that he is our Father.
The phrase “from the beginning” tells us that God is Creator — not a created being. It tells us that he’s always existed — which means he existed before everything else. And — if he existed before everything else — that tells us that God is self-existing — meaning he doesn’t need any one or any thing else in order for him to exist. You and I need many things in order to exist. Water, food, working vital organs — but God needs no one and no thing for him to exist — because — he’s from the beginning.
We also know that God is our Father. John refers to God as Father which is something Jesus taught him when Jesus taught the disciples how to pray. Jesus began his prayer by calling God our Father — which is an intimate reference. It’s a loving title. It shows us that God is kind towards his children. That — through our faith in Christ’s work — we’re adopted into God’s family — that we’re spiritual brothers and sisters who have a terrific older brother, Jesus.
These are truths that all Christians believe — or know — about God — and they mature us in our faith.
But there’s a second maturing question for us: What does it mean to “know” God? John tells us earlier when he writes, “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” - 1 John 2:3-6 (ESV)
To know God means to keep his commandments. To know God is to walk how Jesus walked — to live how Jesus lived. Not because we’re perfect — but because we’ve put our faith in him who is perfect. To know God means we live — not out of our own strength — but out of the strength of God’s Spirit who is in us. And this knowledge will lead to spiritual growth and maturity in our lives.
Now you’ve probably noticed that each group — children, fathers, and young men — are each mentioned twice. But what’s difficult to see in our English Bibles — is that John uses two different Greek words for children.
In verse twelve, John uses a word that means “little born ones” — so think of a newborn infant — but in verse thirteen — the Greek word he uses means “young children” — meaning they’re no longer infants. So why did he use two different words? Though I can’t say for certain why — as a pastor — one of the biggest obstacles I see — that keeps someone from progressing out of infancy and into spiritual maturity — is the choice to remain a spiritual child.
You see, spiritual children need to be trained — need to be taught — they need to be instructed. Now — in a sense — this is true for all Christians — we all need continual training, and teaching, and instruction — but — spiritually young Christians have yet to take ownership of their faith. Meaning they’re dependent upon someone else to help them grow. They won’t pick up their Bible, or read a book about God, or serve, or give unless someone tells them to. They’ve yet to take personal responsibility for their faith. And just like the goal of parenting is to help prepare your children to be adults — the goal of discipleship — the goal of the Christian life — is to mature into spiritual adulthood.
So here’s a test from John: Where are you on your spiritual faith journey? It’s OK to be a child in the faith — but if you’ve been a child for years — what do you need to do to grow up — for it’s time for you to move out of childhood and into spiritual adulthood. And know that the blessing in spiritual growth is that it will build a confidence within you that you are a child of God, that you are truly saved, and that you do have eternal life.
We’ve looked at the children and the fathers and — now — we come to the young men. And — in these young men — we see what it means to be a confident conqueror. So how do we go from being an infant to becoming a confident conqueror which leads to spiritual adulthood?
First, we conquer with God’s Word. John writes…
“I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one…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.” - 1 John 2:13b, 14b (ESV)
John makes a statement about the young men and then explains his statement. He tells the young men that they’ve overcome — or conquered — the evil one because they are strong. And this tells us that we can overcome — or be a conqueror — of the evil one if we’re strong. And where do we find this strength to overcome the evil one?
Our strength comes from the Word of God abiding — or living in us. And look at how John encourages us by reminding us that this strength is not our own — but is a gift given to us. Later in the letter John writes, “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he (that’s Jesus) who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.” - 1 John 5:18 (ESV)
Dear Christian, you are strong because Jesus is protecting you from the evil one.
Or as Paul tells us, “He (God) disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him (Jesus).” - Colossians 2:15 (ESV)
Paul tells us that God has disarmed all of our spiritual enemies by triumphing over them through the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And — living empowered by these two truths alone — that Jesus is protecting us and that our enemies have been disarmed by his work on the cross — these two truths will radically change the way we live. You’re not simply forgiven — as awesome as that is — and we don’t simply know God and obey his Word — though we do know him and obey him — but if you believe — you have a supernatural confidence because Christ is protecting you — and has triumphed over the evil one for you on the cross.
You’ve been given the same supernatural confidence like that wife of the pastor who was headed to prison. And you have everything you need to be able to say along with her, “You can kill my husband. You can kill me. I know that you can even kill our son. But nothing you can do will separate us from the love that is in Jesus Christ!”
The financial hardships you’re facing may not go away. Your marriage may come to an end. These treatments may not defeat your cancer. Your anxiety or depression or fears may always be a companion in life — BUT — they — and nothing else — can separate you from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ. Like her — you will say and believe by the power of God’s Spirit in you, “They can’t overcome me — for I — in Christ — have overcome them.” This is the confidence that is yours — if you believe in Christ — and this confidence will change how you live.
And it’s because we believe in Christ — the One who has overcome the world — that we are confident conquerors. For as John will tell us, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” - 1 John 4:4 (ESV)
We overcome because Jesus — who is in us — is greater than all. Which makes this promise all the more sweeter to our souls. “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” - 1 John 5:4-5 (ESV)
We are confident conquerors because God has given us new life. And this new life is a life of faith — of believing — a life of strength because our trust is in the Strong One — Jesus Christ — who has secured our victory. And knowing this truth — this hope-giving promise — that Christ has secured our victory — changes how we live. For — we remember — that John didn’t tell us that we will overcome or that we can overcome — but that we have overcome the evil one.
Dear Christian, you are a confident conqueror. You’re already victorious. You’ve already overcome the evil one because of your faith in Christ. So live in this gracious promise that is yours.
As a confident conqueror — remember why you’ve been forgiven — for his name’s sake. And live in such a way that those Christians imprisoned — who right now are thanking God and taking great joy in knowing that they’re suffering in prison so we can be free to share Jesus — as confident conquerors let’s live in such a way so as not to disappoint them — by God’s strength — let’s live up to their expectations.
As confident conquerors — let’s be a congregation that takes seriously their prophet-like challenge to “Never give up in freedom what they would never give up in persecution.” And the freedom we have is to live for Christ as confident conquerors. And as we do — these promises — spoken by Christ — will be ours.
“To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” - Revelation 2:7 (ESV)
“The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” - Revelation 2:11 (ESV)
“To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” - Revelation 2:17 (ESV)
“The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations…” - Revelation 2:26 (ESV)
“The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” - Revelation 3:5 (ESV)
“The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.” - Revelation 3:12 (ESV)
“The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” - Revelation 3:21 (ESV)
And this promise will be ours — that “Jesus will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” - Revelation 21:4-7 (ESV)
Know that — if you believe in Christ — you are a confident conqueror — all of these promises — and more — are yours and are guaranteed. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, may your Word birth new life in our hearts. New strength. New hope. New purpose. New focus. New priorities. New confidence.
Spirit of God, bless us with greater confidence in your Word to us.
And — Jesus — we thank you for overcoming the evil one on our behalf.
Father, Son, and Spirit — I ask you to speak clearly to each person listening to my voice — give each of us one specific step of faith we’re to take in becoming a more confident conqueror.
For some, it may be putting their faith in you for the first time. For others, it may be to answer your call to take the gospel to the nations. For someone else, it may be to repent of the values of the world they’re caught up in and begin living according to your values. For others, it may be to simply walk across the street or next door to their neighbor and begin building a relationship.
God — I’m not sure what you want each of us to do — I just know that you don’t want us to hear your Word and then leave here unchanged. So I ask you to speak clearly to each of us right now — thank you for speaking to us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.
Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise.
Leader: With joy we praise you, gracious God, for you have created heaven and earth, made us in your image, and kept covenant with us — even when we fell into sin.
Congregation: We give you thanks for Jesus Christ, our Lord, who by his life, death, and resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. Therefore we join our voices with all the saints and angels and the whole creation to proclaim the glory of your name.
Leader: We give thanks to God the Father that our Savior, Jesus Christ, before he suffered, gave us this memorial of his sacrifice, until he comes again. At his last supper, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup after supper and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this in remembrance of me.” For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Leader: Therefore we proclaim our faith as signed and sealed in this sacrament:
Congregation: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
At this time, I’d like to invite forward those who are going to be serving us. And — while they make their way forward — know that as the bread and cup are passed down your rows, you’re to take the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together. Also — in the trays with the bread — there’s a gluten free option in the center of the tray. Eat the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together.
The blood of Christ, shed for you.
Let’s pray. Father, we acknowledge that you are holy and majestic — and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. In Jesus, your Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and he was full of grace and truth. He lived as one of us, knowing joy and sorrow. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, opened blind eyes, and broke bread with outcasts and sinners. Dying on the cross, he gave himself for the life of the world — raised from the grave he won for us victory over death. We praise you that Christ now reigns with you and will come again to make all things new. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
May you leave here as a confident conqueror — knowing that your strength comes from the Lord. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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