Good morning, as we come to the preaching of God's Word this morning, let me invite you to take your copy of God's Word as we open up to the letter of 1 John. 1 John, we'll be considering chapter two, verses 12 through 14 this morning. It can feel like it has been a while since we have been in God's Word, a year some may say. But we return once again to our study of 1 John and John's words to this church. If you do not have a copy of God's word, you can find this text on page 1021 of the Pew Bible in the C-Rack in front of you. 1 John chapter two, starting in verse 12. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his namesake. 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. 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. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our God endures forever. To the praise of his glorious grace, let us pray. Most merciful triune God, You invite the little children to come to you. This morning, we seek you. May you receive us. Amen. It is always a joy and a privilege for us to take the time in a service to observe and to celebrate the ordinance and sacraments of baptism, particularly children's baptism, as we see God's promises given to Abraham into generation after generation, sealed onto our children, that he is faithful to his people and to his families. If you're anything like me, and you spend time with young families or me myself being a pastor and a father of elementary age children, then you probably are trying to keep up with some of the ideas that are influencing families and influencing parents in particular. And I bet if you have spent any time recently with young families and you probably are aware of a new movement in parenting that is known as gentle parenting. The term gentle parenting originates with a child psychologist by the name of Sarah Ockwell Smith. And in this movement, gentle parenting seeks to set itself into contrast with other approaches to parenting that could be described as traditional or authoritarian parenting. And this is very common among many young families that you will see today. These psychologists will argue that traditional parenting has focused too much exclusively on controlling the behavior of children. From their perspective, traditional ways of parenting will use things like guilt and shame to direct their children away from undesired behaviors and then towards desired behaviors in their children. And sometimes using this guilt and shame can be done in a way that has little regard for the child's psychological well-being, they would argue. And so therefore, if you could imagine a picture, you could imagine a parent giving very strict and fervent commandments to a toddler in the middle of an emotional breakdown or meltdown. In contrast, gentle parenting will instruct parents to focus on establishing a warm and open relationship with their children. And gentle parenting tells parents that what we need to do is we need to pay attention to the emotional cues happening in many parenting conversations. Things such as having control over ourselves and what we're experiencing as well as our children. As any parent knows, there are times in which we can find ourselves within an emotional standoff with our kids. When we have one thing we want and they have something that they want and no one is wanting to budge. And so in gentle parenting, parents are directed to focus their effects and their emotions and their attention first on themselves. And what they're to do is they're to focus on their own emotional regulation without giving themselves over to anger or frustration with their children. And then on the other hand, once the parent is in control, now they can help their children to understand their own emotions. And trying to also affirm that what the child is experiencing is legitimate and real. And so the goal of gentle parenting in many ways is to try to replace many of the ways that parents have traditionally, they would say, instruct their kids towards ways that can help children to regulate their own emotions and make good choices for themselves so that children can avoid having interactions with their parents that are described by being distressing and disturbing to the child's psychological state. Now I bring up gentle parenting, not because this sermon is on parenting advice, nor because I want to discuss the pros and cons of gentle parenting in this new fad. If you're interested in my thoughts, feel free to find me after the service this morning. But rather, I bring up gentle parenting because as we have studied 1 John, And as we have observed how John approaches his spiritual children in the faith and how he instructs them, it has struck me that the Apostle John's methods could not quite be described as gentle. It's not exactly been gentle. This morning as we return once again to the letter of 1 John, we have seen many things, haven't we? As we come back to 1 John, there have been some absolutely incredible moments as John has held out for us the forgiveness of sins that is available for us to be found in Christ. We've also have seen in places where John puts forward Christ as the Lamb of God, the propitiation for our sins, the one who takes away the sins of the world. And yet we can't ignore the fact that thus far in 1 John there have been sections that could be described as spiritually distressing. In 1 John, for example, John will tell us that if we do not confess our sins to one another, or if we do not, or if we deny that there is sin in our lives and say that we have not sinned, John warns us that this truth is not in us. Or as we have seen, if we claim to know God, but we do not keep his commandments and we do not love our brothers and sisters within the church. John actually tells us that we are deceiving ourselves and still in darkness. And after spending some time in John, you can begin to ask the question, what does John actually think about the spiritual state of his readers, of these people on the receiving end of this letter? But as we turn this morning to this section of 1 John, I think many of those concerns and worries can finally be put to rest. For our text this morning, friends, is one giant affirmation of the work of God within this church and on the receiving end of the letter. And after many verses with many challenging truths, As many ways in which John is trying to use scripture to reveal what's going on in their hearts, maybe a little forcefully and maybe not exactly as gently as we like, he now devotes these three verses to encouraging his readers about God's work in their hearts. And that by association, how we can be encouraged about God's work in our lives. If you look down at our text this morning, you will see that these three verses contain six statements, and they begin with either the phrase, I am writing to you, or I write to you. And if you divide these six statements in half, so if you cut the six into sets of three, you will see that John actually addresses the same group of people, the same groups of people, these three groups, twice. So in verses 12 through 13, we see John first writes to little children, then to fathers, and then to young men. Then again, he addresses the children, the fathers, and the young men in similar ways in verses 13 and 14. And so this morning we're going to spend some time asking ourselves what does John have to say first to the young children in this church and then also to the young men and then to the spiritual fathers. But by way of context and more introductory comments, I think it's important for us to recognize that when John is talking about children, fathers, and young men, that John here is not talking about physical age and maturity. Rather, in our passage, he is talking about spiritual age and spiritual maturity. Indeed, it is entirely possible for someone to be physically old and spiritually immature. As in the example of someone who comes to Christ later in life. And by all accounts is very old, but very young in their faith. And also please note that while John is addressing his words towards men, it is not as if these words do not also apply to women. You ladies are not allowed to take a week off from listening to the sermon. And yet sadly though, As it is the pattern in many churches, there are many places in which women are actually outpacing the spiritual maturity of our men. So maybe us men do need to pay a little bit more attention to what John has to say to us this morning. So this morning as we approach our text, let me ask each one of us, how old are you? What is your spiritual age? Where do you find yourself? on your spiritual journey and on your path of Christian growth through the Christian life. This morning, we will move through our passage of scripture by considering what John writes to three different stages of spiritual maturity. First, we're gonna consider what John writes to young children, to little children, then to young men, and then to fathers. That's where we will be going in our sermon this morning. If you look down at 1 John 2, beginning in verse 12, you see John writes, I am writing to you, little children. And in verse 13, again, he says, I am writing to you, I write to you, children. Now, if we're honest with ourselves, I think this is a good place for us to start. I'm not sure that anyone here actually loves being referred to as a little child. We Americans, especially us adults, are much too proud to be referred to as children. And for many of us, our age can actually be a place of insecurity in our lives. If you think about it, one way to get under the skin of someone, maybe a youth, maybe a child, and even an adult in the home of their parents, one way to get under their skin these days is to point out their age, or even to refer to adults as children. But the Apostle John here is not trying to assault anyone in our text, but he's merely stating a spiritual and a biblical truth. In the same way that we are born physically as infants and children, we are spiritually born again as infants and children when we become Christians. Like it or not, whenever someone becomes a Christian, No matter how much you've done in life, when you become a Christian, you start off as a spiritual child. As much as we would like to, we cannot fast pass or expedite our growth as spiritual children in the same way that none of us, and it would not be healthy if we sped through or skipped the years that we needed to grow as children. But I do think as we look at this idea that the concept of being a spiritual child can communicate two things. One, being a spiritual child can speak about spiritual life and new life. And it also can talk about great spiritual potential. When someone becomes a Christian, if you look at them, in one sense, not much about them changes. They're still the same person. They still have the same name, unless you're someone like the Apostle Paul, and God changes your name. But most of us, we keep our names. When you become a Christian, you still have the same grade point average. You still have the same teachers at school, you still have the same number of speeding tickets, and you still have the same color of your hair, unless you're changing your hair, because your hair is unnatural colors. And yet, in another sense, so when we become a Christian, one person, does not really change much about their lives. But then in another way, when we become a Christian, there is now something alive in us that is aware of new spiritual realities. As Jesus says in John chapter three, if we want to see the kingdom of God, or if we want to have new spiritual perception, what does he say? We must be born again. New Christians are much more aware when they become a Christian of God's existence. They have new joys. They feel a new sensitivity to their own sin. They have new affections for Christ and new desires to pursue holiness. And so as baby Christians have this new life, we also see in the Bible that they also have great spiritual potential. This is just a very nice way of saying that they can sometimes be a little clumsy, just like a toddler. Just compare, for example, a spiritual child in the faith to a saint who has been walking with the Lord for decades. A mature Christian has developed these godly habits such as reading God's word every day. They're praying. They have decades of listening to sermons. They're fighting against temptation in their lives. And they're committed to good works. And many times, a spiritual child is not there yet. They have a lot of potential, but they're still being formed. And so they need the guidance of spiritual fathers to help them as they're growing in their life. In the same way that a toddler needs to be told, don't put your hand there, it may burn you. Don't do this, don't do that. Spiritual toddlers need the care and help of the church to guide them as they grow in maturity. But if you and I are a Christian, From another perspective, I do not think that any of us should belittle or look down upon those who are called spiritual children in the scriptures. For according to the Bible, if we understand what God's word says in one way or another, we are all spiritual children. If you think about it, it's interesting. We actually spend more time interacting with our earthly parents as peers than we do as little children in their homes. We spend more time with our parents, Lord willing, if he gives us the years, as peers, as adults, even as we continue to honor and respect them throughout the course of our life. But not so with God. One of the main principles of scripture is that you and I never graduate from children of God. We never become God's peer. But as we look at the Bible, we understand that for all of eternity, we will always relate to God according to the pattern found all throughout scripture, that he will be our God, we will be his people, and we will be his children, even into eternity. I actually think the Bible challenges us if we struggle to see ourselves as spiritual children. Do you remember what Jesus says to his disciples in Matthew 18, one through four? Jesus tells his disciples, who were very quick to wave off little children as unimportant, These weren't important enough for Jesus. Let's not bother Jesus with this precious time. Send them away. Jesus tells them that if you want to be citizens of the kingdom of God, you must become like little children, full of faith and humility and trust. Furthermore, as we understand this letter that John writes, it's interesting that even though John here talks about spiritual fathers and young men, the most common way that John addresses his audience in this letter is by the reference, little children. As John will use six other ways in 1 John to refer to the entire church as my little children. A way that John is communicating his influence in the life of this church. But even as John refers to the whole church here as little children, our text is addressing those who are spiritually young in the faith in these two verses, or these two sentences. And John affirms the work of God among these spiritual children by pointing to two beautiful realities that define the beginning stages of the Christian life. And in these two sentences, John points to, for little children, two things, the forgiveness of sins and adoption. If you look back at verse 12 with me. I'm writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his namesake. It's amazing. To understand the significance of what John is saying here, just think about the context of this letter and all of these challenging words that John has written thus far. after challenging the church to take seriously the necessity of confessing our own sins. Friends, these verses as if John gets on his hands and knees with these little children, and he tells them, but remember, your sins are forgiven, little Christian. According to the Apostles' Creed, Christians throughout history have confessed these words, I believe in the forgiveness of sins. There are many religions out there that have their own ways of addressing sin or ways that they think that man has committed wrongs that need to be righted. But if you think about it, most of these religions will put the burden of dealing with our sins upon the shoulders of the sinner. Man has committed wrong, and therefore man must make right. This principle is powerfully depicted in the story Pilgrim's Progress, written by John Bunyan. In Pilgrim's Progress, the pilgrim Christian begins his journey when he becomes newly aware in reading God's word of this weight and of this burden upon his back as scripture reveals to him his own sin. And in this story, he leaves his hometown, this city set for destruction, in search of a way for him to relieve this burden. And yet, Early on in this story, before Christian has his burden removed, he meets a character. Worldly Wiseman. And Worldly Wiseman offers Christian the following counsel. I know how you can get rid of this burden. But it is through the law. It is through religiosity. It is through you doing good works. That's how you can get this burden off your back. And isn't that how most people today, friends, think of religion? What is religion? But just rituals that man performs to remove these burdens of guilt and shame that their gods reveal to them. But friends, this is not what we confess as Christians when we say, I believe in the forgiveness of sins. For as John says, In verse 12, your sins are forgiven, not because of you, but for his name's sake. Friends, in other words, our sins are forgiven, not because of our works, but because of what Jesus has done for us at the cross. That in his life, in his perfection, in his willingness to be our substitute, that he would go to the cross so that we could confess as God's people for centuries, I believe in the forgiveness of sins. Friends, that is why Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, he does not find his relief in climbing Mount Legality. He does not find his relief of his burden in good works, but friends, he only finds the relief he's looking for from his burden by entering through the narrow gate and going to the cross. Friends, if you're a Christian, even now, you can experience, and you have experienced if you're a Christian, this joy of knowing that your sins are forgiven. But friends, isn't this joy also experienced within a particular way among those who are young in the faith? Those who, like Christian, have been walking around for a long time, knowing the burden of their sin, and then to know that they are finally free, that they are forgiven. Friends, these words have been powerfully preserved in the words of the hymn, this idea. In the hymn, Amazing Grace, written by John Newton. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. And if you know John Newton, he was not someone who grew up as a saint from a worldly perspective. This man knew that he was a sinner. Amazing grace, save a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see. And yet what does he write in this second verse about this experience of understanding God's amazing grace? How precious did that grace appear when? Friend, the hour I first believed, when I first became a Christian, this grace. Friends, younger Christians are acutely aware of the joys of the forgiveness of sins. And friends, may we not as older saints forget this joy and wonder, but yet also, Younger Christians are acutely aware of the joys and wonders of their adoption. Look down at the end of verse 13 with me. I write to you children, why? Because you know the Father. I referenced this quote before from J.I. Packer's work, Knowing God. I highly recommend it to you. I've referenced this before in a sermon, but this quote is worth repeating again and again until it sinks down deep into our souls. Friends, according to J.I. Packer, what is the definition of a Christian? He says he cannot find any other words than knowing that a Christian is merely one who has God as their father and knows that immense privilege. Friends, think about the beauties of adoption. To go from being someone who lives your entire life questioning your place in this dark, in this cold, in this seemingly random universe, friends, to knowing that the maker of heaven and earth, friends, the one who right now holds the entire universe together by his word. Friends, to know that this God personally cares about you and knows you and loves you and thought about you from before the foundation of the world. Friends, to know this and then to know that you not just have the joy and privilege of calling him God, not just Lord, not just master, But Father, what an amazing thing, the doctrine of adoption. Friends, let me ask you, if you are a young Christian, if you've come to faith in Christ early in your life, or even recently, let me ask you, do you cherish the forgiveness of sins and adoption? Do you cherish the fact of knowing that you no longer have this burden? It's been taken off your back at the cross. And friends, do you cherish the fact that you have God as your father? For friend, when Jesus thinks of you and when John thinks of you by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it's these two things that are in his mind when he thinks of you. and thinks about being a spiritual child. I wonder if you're here and you're not a Christian, what do you think of John's words in this passage? Friends, if all of us Christians here can remember those precious days when we first came to faith and when we first experienced for the first time, my sins are forgiven. I have God as my father. Friends, if you're not a Christian and you're here this morning, know that these blessings and these gifts are available to you. Friends, as we just saw with the sealing of God's covenant promises, we seal the promises of the covenant upon our children in hopes that they will one day place their faith. Maybe you're young and you've had these covenant promises sealed upon you. Maybe you're young here and you're thinking about these things. These are available for you too if you put your faith in Christ and look to him for salvation. Friends, if you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, there are many people here today who would love to talk to you about how you can become a Christian after the service. That's our first point. What John has written to little children. But if we continue to follow the story of Christian in Pilgrim's Progress for a moment, you know that after Christian has his burden removed at the cross, and after some short journeying on, he finds himself stumbling into this valley, this valley defined by humiliation. And there he finds himself locked in combat with a dangerous foe, Apollyon. And as our text continues, John reminds us that spiritual children who are growing in their faith should expect conflict with the evil one. As he writes to our second group this morning, to young men. Although John has two slightly different ways of encouraging these maturing saints, he has one central idea in mind when he thinks of the young men in this church. According to John, the young men in this church are those who have overcome the evil one. Look down at verse 13 with me again in the middle. I write to you young men, because you have overcome the evil one. In verse 14, John expounds upon this idea a little further. 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. If you're curious about your spiritual growth, whether or not you would be defined as a spiritual child or a spiritual young man, let me ask you this question. Is your life defined by overcoming the evil one? Well, to answer that question, I think we need to ask ourselves, what exactly does John mean here? What does it mean for us to overcome the evil one? The word overcome in our text comes from the Greek word that also could be translated to have victory or to conquer. Some of you may have at home a pair of sneakers made by the company Nike that has a swish or a check mark on them. The brand Nike gets its name from the Greek goddess of victory. And the verb overcome in our text is a form of the Greek word nikao. That's the word underneath to overcome. And to help us understand what John means here, I think we need to start by saying to overcome the evil one cannot mean sinless perfection. That cannot be what John has in mind here. For many people today, to overcome the evil one is synonymous with victory over temptation. But I think John would not want us to fall into the trap of believing that we've come to this point of sinlessness in our life. or we find ourselves then falling into the ditch he warned us about in 1 John 1.8, where he writes, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So overcoming the evil one cannot mean that we are entirely sinless, but I think that overcoming the evil one in 1 John communicates this idea of recognizing and resisting the spiritual traps set by the evil one that are trying to lead Christians into false doctrine and sinful living. In just a few weeks, we will see John begin to address one of his central concerns within this letter, the threat of spiritual deception, the deception of the world and the deception of what he calls the spirit of the Antichrist. There is one way to see, if you wanna come back, we can figure out what that means together, the spirit of the Antichrist, as we'll see in a few weeks. And so, in our text, we're seeing the beginning of this, where what John is saying is that these Christians have overcome the evil one. They've seen his schemes and they have discerned how to avoid them. In verses 13 through 14, John encourages these young Christians because he sees that they are not like, in the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians four, these Christians are not like children tossed to and fro by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine and by human cunning and by craftiness and deceitful schemes. These young Christians are not like that, but rather they are strong, verse 14. They can discern the schemes of the evil one, the ways that the evil one is trying to lead them away, and they can overcome him. If we look at the New Testament, one of the major concerns of the apostles is that Christians are spiritually maturing, that they are spiritually growing, and they are not remaining infants. For example, in 1 Corinthians chapter three, Verses one through three. Paul addresses this church that if you understand 1 Corinthians, these Christians are super gifted. They have everything that they need, but they have the maturity of toddlers. 1 Corinthians three. But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants of Christ. I fed you with milk. not solid food, for you are not ready for it. And even now are you not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For where there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving only in a human way? So if we see in 1 Corinthians, Paul addressing these spiritual infants, these super gifted spiritual toddlers, then what must we do? How are we to grow in spiritual maturity and overcome the evil one? In our text and in this letter, I think John gives us two points of direction for how we can grow in spiritual maturity. First, if we are to overcome the evil one, we must abide in Christ. We must abide in Christ. Friends, in John 16, 33, In a conversation John would have remembered for the rest of his life, what words of comfort does Jesus give to his disciples? Take heart. Why? Because I have overcome the world. And merely in a few verses and chapters in 1 John 4, John reminds us that he who is in us you know it, is greater than he who is in the world. Friend, if you're a Christian, do not let the enemy convince you that you are spiritually weak. Friends, you are not defenseless if you're a Christian, and you are not without help in this battle. Friends, God has given you, rather, everything in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit in order for you to overcome, for you to know and recognize and avoid the schemes of the evil one. Christian, think about this. Abiding in Christ gives you everything that you need. Friends, this is your spiritual armor. As Paul will say, the righteousness of Christ, my breastplate, protecting me. Salvation, my helmet. Faith, my shield. Friend, if you're a Christian, caught in battle with the evil one, are you using the resources God has given to you? Are you abiding in Christ? Are you meditating upon what he has done? Are you fighting the ways in which the evil one is trying to speak into your soul the lies that you are defenseless and helpless? Are you reminding yourself daily of his work of salvation? His victory over sin? How he overcame the world and the evil one? Friend, are you abiding in Christ? But second, If you want to grow in your maturity, Christian, the Apostle John would point you specifically to the word of God. Verse 14. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you. If we go back to Pilgrim's Progress for a second, Christian enters into this valley of humiliation, this battle with the evil one with only one weapon, the sword of the spirit. And it's interesting, Christian's armor has no back protection. There's no going back. He must stand and fight. And as Bunyan dramatizes from his own experience as a Christian, at one point in the heat of this battle, Christian's sword flies out of his hand. And in this moment when it looks like Christian is finished, he reaches for God's word. and says, rejoice not against me, O my enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. As Christian then gives Apollyon a deadly thrust from the ground. The section of Pilgrim's Progress includes this poem that reflects upon Christian's experience in his encounter with Apollyon. A more unequal match can hardly be. Christian must fight an angel, but you see, the valiant man, by handling sword and shield, doth make him, though a dragon, quit the field. Christian, let me ask you, are you struggling with temptation? Are you plagued with doubts and uncertainties about your faith? Do you find yourself falling back consistently into the same patterns of sinful thinking? These patterns and habits that you know you want to break but do not have the strength to? Friend, let me ask you a simple question. How often are you in God's word? A Christian without the word of God confronts his enemies, the flesh, the world, and the devil without a weapon. I have yet to meet a mature Christian who himself or herself was not skillful in handling the word of God. Friends, when you think about God's word, do you come to your armory, and pull out your sword every day? Do you come to God's word with a sense of urgency? You wake yourself up. You know your spiritual need. You know the temptations and the battles that are out there. And you come to the word of God with this conviction. If I am not in God's word, if I am not clinging to my sword, things today are not gonna go well with me. I need God's word. Friend, if you are spiritually a young man or woman, taking the sword of the Spirit wherever you go. Friends, know that John sees you, and we see you, and we are very encouraged by your progress. Friend, if others of you are out there and you're feeling a little less mature or strong as you thought you were, friends, for you, take heart, for Christ has overcome the world. And he has given you everything that you need to overcome the evil one as well. Maybe for some of you this day, you need to spend some time this afternoon taking out your armor and cleaning off your sword and getting back into the fight with the one who wages war against your soul. That's the second group that John addresses in our text, the spiritually young. But finally, in our text, John addresses the last group, spiritual fathers. If you think about it, it may be hard for John to top what he writes to young men. For John encourages his young men with some pretty strong words, doesn't he? Who are they? They overcome the evil one. They are strong. And the word of God abides in them. But what great works could John point to concerning the spiritual fathers in the church? Verse 13. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. Verse 14. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. Now I think at first glance, John's words to spiritual fathers can appear a little underwhelming. If you think about it, after the demon fighting encouragements that John shares with these young men, these words to spiritual fathers can read as if John is just happy that these older saints still know Jesus. He who was from the beginning. But let me make two quick observations about John's words to spiritual fathers as we come to a close this morning. First, I think it's important to remember that John's letter, in this letter, the verb to know, to know. in 1 John has much richer and it has a deeper meaning than merely just having intellectual knowledge about something or being able to cite certain facts as if someone is going through a pop quiz. No, in verse 13, as we have seen, John will use the verb to know to talk about children knowing their spiritual adoption, knowing God as father. And yet, in verses 13 and 14, when talking about spiritual fathers, John is talking about this type of mature knowledge of God that defines the life of spiritual fathers. This type of knowledge of God that includes both knowing God and living for God fully. Friends, remember only a few verses earlier, John confronted and approached the Christian life where people would say, I know God, but then throw off his commandments. Or someone would say, I am walking with God, I know the Father, but then turn around and hate their brothers and sisters within the church. So friends, who are these spiritual fathers? These spiritual fathers are Christians. who truly know Jesus and they love Jesus. And it's not just a head knowledge, it is a heart knowledge. And these spiritual fathers know and love him who is from the beginning in word and in deed. And if you look at them in the church as they serve, they're the people we point to and say they know Jesus. Friends, this is true spiritual maturity, to know Jesus, not just in the heads, not just when we start the Christian life, but in all of our lives, where knowing God transforms everything about us. And these dear saints are the bedrock of any spiritually healthy church. And although they're here, and they don't want credit, and they don't want attention, Friends, aren't we so thankful for these saints at Cornerstone? Those whom God has given and brought up who know Jesus and are example for all of us. But second, as one final observation as we close, I absolutely love how Christ-centered John's depiction of the Christian life is here. Friends, at no point does our text give us any reason or any impression that we should boast about ourselves as we think about the Christian life and our growth and progress. No, friends, at every stage of what John has done here, he is pointing people to Jesus on our spiritual journey. Friends, John cannot encourage little Christians, little children, without pointing to the finished work of Christ and the forgiveness of sins that he found through believing in him. Friends, John does not point to the spiritual strength of young men and women that they may boast in themselves, but rather, as he shows us, that we who are spiritually strong is because of him who is in us, who is stronger than him who is in the world. And finally, as we think about our spiritual fathers in the faith, John can describe their spiritual maturity in one simple way. They know Jesus. They know him who is from the beginning. And they know him not just in their minds but in their hearts and in deed and in word. Friends, our passage contains many encouragements for Christians at every stage of the Christian life. From the spiritual infants here to the spiritual fathers. And John is encouraged, and friends, I am encouraged. And you should be encouraged. For when we look around this church, we do not look around and boast because of our good works or our knowledge or our strength, but rather that God is faithful to the promises of his word and of his holy scriptures, that Christ is at work in you. cornerstone. And knowing that God is at work here in the lives of Christians from their earliest years to the seasoned saints. Because we know that, friends, we know that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ. And friends, because of that, John is encouraged, I am encouraged, and you should be encouraged. Let's pray. Father, we thank you this morning for Jesus. The one in whom we abide, the one in whom gives us everything that we need for life and godliness. Our true vine, our great shepherd. Father, we thank you for his guiding and his leading throughout the Christian life. We thank you for how he draws us, how he holds us in his hand. And then he will safely bring us into his heavenly kingdom. whether at our final breath or when he comes. Father, we thank you for these precious promises. We thank you for the encouragement we found in your word, regardless of where we are in the Christian life. Father, we ask that you confirm your word and promises to us. May you continue to do the work that you have started here. That we may not boast in ourselves, but that every eye would look to Jesus and say, you are faithful. You are with us. You will never leave us and forsake us. Amen.