1 JOHN 2:12-14 TRUTHS FOR GROWTH AT ANY STAGE2025 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 John 2:12-14 Truths For Growth At Any Stage

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2025. Good morning. If you can, grab your Bible and open up to 1 John chapter 2.

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1 John chapter 2 is where we're going to be this morning. Pastor Jason shared that you guys are going through the Bible in five years and we're going to be in 1 John today. And so as he asked me to step in and speak, I thought it'd be great to jump in right where you guys are reading and join with you and what the Lord is saying here. And so we're going to be in 1 John chapter 2 looking at a couple verses.

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Now, before we dive into the passage this morning, if you don't mind, I'd like to just get to know you a tiny bit and get a sense of the room since I'm a guest here. And so if I could just have you raise your hand if you think that you might be the oldest person in the room this morning. What do you think? Yeah.

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Okay, okay, good. I see a few hands. Okay, so what do we think it is? I think first service was 75 was the oldest in the room. Anybody feel led to disclose? 74, 75 still? I see a familiar face. All right, all right. Okay, now how about the youngest? Could you raise your hand if you think you're the youngest in the room? Okay, I think it's me maybe. How old are you? 15, all right. So

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Nice, good span among us, right? 15 to 75, amazing. The breadth of life, you know, what happens in between 15 years old and 75 years old? Lots of life happens, right? Amazing things happen, lots of challenges, all kinds of different experiences. Now, if I were to ask a

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especially those of you who are older. So I'm 46, in case you were curious, and it puts me kind of right in the middle, and I like to consider myself young still, but some of you, like 15, probably say, 46, that's really old, right? So if you're older than me, raise your hand if you think that you're the most mature person in the room. I don't see any hands. What's going on? Not everybody's going to be excited to...

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that they are the most mature in the room. In fact, if you do, you might not be the most mature person in the room if you think that you are, right? We recognize that although there is age that happens and life that happens, in many years that we walk through, maturity...

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doesn't necessarily go hand in hand. I can be 75 one day and not have the maturity level of one who, you know, what I could have or should have as one who is 75. I'm not talking about being young at heart, but just foolish and immature, right? So there is a age that happens, a life that progresses, and

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And different levels of maturity that happen along the way as well. And so there can be young people who are very mature, and there can be older people who are not very mature at all. And where do you find yourself this morning, physically, and then also, I would ask, in regards to your spiritual maturity? Now, the Apostle John is going to address us no matter where we find ourselves this morning. Here in 1 John 2-3.

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verses 12 through 14. So let's go ahead and read that. I'll read through these verses and you please follow along with me in your scriptures. First John chapter two, verse 12, it says this, I write to you little children because your sins are forgiven you 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.

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I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father. Verse 14. 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. Let's pray. Lord, as we consider your word this morning, I pray that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

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Lord, that we would have a great sense of clarity about the things that you want to speak to our hearts, exactly where we are at, exactly what we need to hear. Lord, that we might grow and develop in our relationship with you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Here as we dig into this letter that the Apostle John writes, John, we find, likes to tell us why he is writing this.

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This seems to be pretty common in his writings. He wrote, of course, the Gospel of John, and he tells us at the end, in John chapter 20, verse 30 and 31, he says, He says,

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so that you can believe that Jesus is the Christ. As he writes this letter, 1 John, we find actually 13 times throughout this letter, John says, I am writing, I have written a variety of times. He's talking a lot about what he is writing and why he is writing. In fact, there's some famous reasons why.

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for the writing of 1 John. If you're familiar with Pastor Chuck and his teachings, you're probably familiar with the three reasons why 1 John was written. The three reasons are found, I'll walk through these briefly here. 1 John 1, verse 4, the Apostle John says, "...these things we write to you, that your joy may be full."

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So John says, I'm writing this to you for this purpose, for this reason, that your joy may be full. You may have an abundant joy. And so if you are looking to increase the joy that you have, 1 John is a great book for you to spend time in because that's why John wrote the book. For that very purpose, he declares it there. In 1 John 2, verse 1, we find the second reason is,

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He says, And so he's writing to them with this express purpose that,

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For you to reduce sin in your life, to remove yourself from sin, this book will help you. I'm writing things to help you in that endeavor. And so if that's something that needs to take place in your life, 1 John is a great book to spend time in because that's why John wrote the book. He tells us here in 1 John 2.

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Well, finally, the third reason is 1 John 5, verse 13. He says,

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The third purpose, he says, I want you to know that you have eternal life and therefore I have written these things. And so if you need to be strengthened in your understanding the reality of the eternal life that you have, 1 John is a great book to spend time in because that's why we

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it was written. I love that he is so clear in providing the details about what he is doing, his intentions in writing these things. Now, as much as I can appreciate that, I'm not always that way. I'm not always that clear in what I communicate.

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I was thinking back to many years ago now when I was really fond of a girl named Kim. And we were starting to be friends and wanting to take it a little bit serious, a little bit more serious, I decided to ask her out. And so I took her to McDonald's, the most romantic place on earth, and presented a long, complicated journey of a speech that

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I don't know how long I was talking, maybe 10 minutes, maybe 15 minutes. Knowing me, it could have been 20 minutes. I was going on and on, and Kim wasn't quite understanding what I was suggesting in this speech. And so finally, she clarified it at the end with a question. She said, does that mean I can say I'm your girlfriend?

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That's all she was looking for. And I had this, you know, elaborate, very convoluted, vague speech that I was presenting. But John's not like that. He says, look, here's some very clear so you can know this is the purpose of this. And as we get into today's passage, 1 John 2, verses 12 through 14, it's very intense how many times John says, here's what I'm writing and here's what I'm wanting to accomplish.

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He says, I write to you because six times here in these three verses. He addresses three groups of people. Each group he addresses twice. And he wants it to be very clear. He says, I want you to know whatever stage that you're in, what you have in Christ. I want you to know the truth about who you are in Christ and what's available to you in Christ. And so I've titled the message this morning,

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truths for growth at any stage. Truths for growth at any stage. There's three points that we'll walk through as he addresses these three different groups in their stage and what they need to hear in those stages of life. And so we're going to look at the first one. He addresses the little children in verse 12. Let me read that for you again. It says, I write to you, little children,

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Because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. First, John addresses the little children. As he does, I'll phrase the point this way. Here's point number one. You have personal access to the Father because your sins are forgiven. I know that's a little bit long, so let me say it again. You have personal access to the Father because your sins are forgiven.

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This is the point that John wants to make to the little children. Now, as we look at the three different groups that he addresses here, we'll be kind of considering a little bit, okay, what is John doing here? Is he addressing groups of different physical ages? Is he addressing little children as in like those who are in the children's ministry right now being taken care of? Is that who he's writing to? Is it a literal age group?

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I think all of us would kind of jump to, no, probably not, right? He's probably not writing to those who are not old enough to read yet. That's probably understood pretty clearly from John's intentions here. So maybe he's speaking spiritually. New believers.

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Little children, perhaps, is a reference to. He's addressing those who are newer in the faith, having, you know, just recently come to faith in Jesus Christ. And that certainly could be the case, but we could also make the case that he is speaking to all believers when he uses the word little children, because actually you'll find if you read through the book of 1 John this week that

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that he addresses his audience as little children all throughout the book. It's a way that he is showing some affection to his readers. In 1 John 2, verse 1, if you want to just rewind a couple verses there where you're at, he says, In 1 John 2, verse 28, a few verses after our portion for today, he says, In 1 John 3,

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A couple times, 1 John 4, he refers to them as little children, and he ends the book, 1 John 5, verse 21, little children, keep yourselves from idols, amen. And so I think it's pretty clear that John is addressing all believers, all those that he is writing to, as little children. So it's not just a...

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age group that he is talking about and not limited to new believers that he is speaking to, although I think it is appropriate to consider the truth that he presents here is the first truth that we must believe in order to become children of God and to be those of the faith in Jesus Christ. And so he is addressing the

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All of us, but also especially those who are younger in the faith. Now, this is a cool word when he says little children, because it's a modification of the standard Greek word for children or child. The standard word, I'm going to butcher the pronunciation, but you'll get the idea, is technon. And the modified version that he uses throughout this book adds the letter I into the middle of it. And so instead of technon, it's technion.

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Isabelita

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We just add the ita, then isabelita, and then now we're, it's saying her name, but it's also a little bit more affection. It's a little bit more a term of endearment. Some of you might call me gordo, it means I'm chubby, and I might be offended by that, but if you call me gordito, then hey, I'm good. It's a cute chubby guy, right? Like I'm good with that. That's cool. You can call me that. He says little children. It's this term of affection. My beloved little children.

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He's appealing to us and expressing his love and concern. And he says, little children, here's why I'm writing to you. Because your sins are forgiven you. I'm writing to you, little children. Now, again, this is appropriate for those who are brand new in the faith because it's how we become part of the faith. We are born again when we believe that

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the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf, that he was crucified, sacrificed on our behalf, that we might have forgiveness and life in his name by faith in Jesus Christ. And so our sins being forgiven is the first thing, it's our entrance into the kingdom of God, and so little children speaking to new believers is definitely appropriate. But of course,

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We also really never grow out of the appreciation and the understanding of what God has done for us. And so it's appropriate for us to consider this morning, no matter what stage you find yourself in, your sins are forgiven you. Now this word forgiven, it's very important the way that John presents it here.

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It is in a particular form in the Greek, and I don't like to typically dive too deep into some of the technicalities, but I'm going to this morning, and I believe, I have great faith in you. You can follow along, okay? Stay with me. Let's just consider this for a little bit. It's worth it, okay? Let me just assure you in that it's worth it. Follow along with me, okay? So the word forgiven is in a particular form, which means that it is...

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The perfect tense, the indicative mood, and the passive voice. Okay? If you want to write that down and dig into those things later, I know you didn't come here for a grammar lesson, but perfect tense, indicative mood, and passive voice. And what does that mean? Well, the perfect tense speaks of an action that has taken place in the past and

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but that has results that continue into the present. It's an action that has taken place in the past, but the results of that action are still true today. The results continue on into the present and beyond. And so think about what that means when it comes to forgiveness. Forgiveness is something that is available to us because of the finished work of Jesus upon the cross.

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And so there is that work where Jesus said, it is finished. But then there's also that moment where you came to believe in Jesus and you made that truth personal. And you said, Jesus, you died on the cross for my sins and you experienced the forgiveness of God. That probably was sometime in the past, even if it was just moments ago, it was sometime in the past. But that truth, that forgiveness that you received is

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is a forgiveness that is not just living in the past, but that the results continue on into the present. And so no matter how long ago it was that Christ died upon the cross, no matter how long it was that you first believed in Jesus Christ, today you are forgiven. Your sins are forgiven you, John says. It's in the perfect tense. It means it's done and it's still done today.

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It hasn't changed. It hasn't reverted. It hasn't gone back. It's done, and it's still done today. Now, it's in the perfect tense, but it's also in the indicative mood. The indicative mood means that this is an assertion of fact. This is the truth.

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There's no dispute about this. There's no question about it. This is not speculation. This is not theorizing. This is not, you know, very lofty theology to just consider and contemplate in your mind. This is an assertion of fact. If I say the sun is shining today, that is me asserting a fact. That is the truth. In the same way, he says, your sins are forgiven you. It's an assertion of fact.

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This is the fact. This is the truth. You are forgiven. That forgiveness was accomplished for you in the past, but you live today with the results of that forgiveness. And you are still in the present forgiven by faith in Jesus Christ because of his work upon the cross. Well, finally, this word is in the passive voice.

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And the passive voice speaks about something as the recipient of the action. The example I often use for that is if I am playing baseball and I hit the ball, that would be active voice. I'm taking action and hitting the ball.

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When I play baseball, usually it's more appropriate in the passive voice. That is, the ball hits me. I didn't hit the ball. The ball hits me. It's done to me. I'm the recipient. Well, this word forgiven is in the passive voice. That is, you didn't get forgiveness or do forgiveness or do the forgiving. You're the recipient. You received forgiveness.

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the forgiveness. He says, your sins are forgiven you. And so it's the perfect tense. It's done once and for all upon the cross, and it continues to the present. It's a fact. It's not in dispute. It's not a question.

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It's not a, you know, vague theory. It's the reality. It's the truth. You are forgiven, and it's something that you receive, which means it's not something that you earn, or it's not based on your performance. It's not based on, you know, your perfection. In fact, we're not perfect. Since the time that we first believed in Jesus, we have fallen short of the glory of God and failed and sinned in our life, right?

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But jump back a few verses to 1 John 2, where John says in verse 1, See, earlier in the chapter, John says, I'm writing to you so that you move away from sin and

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But also the reality of life in these bodies is that we will have sin in our lives, but that doesn't mean that now we're in an unforgiven state. He says, if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He's our propitiation. He is the appeasement of the wrath of God for our sins. And so that's why the forgiveness persists to the present, even though we've sinned in between, because...

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Jesus Christ the righteous. And that's why John here in verse 12 continues on to say, for his name's sake. And that's a really important phrase. The forgiveness of your sins is not for your name's sake. It's for his name's sake. Your forgiveness is bound up in the nature and character of God. It's for his name's sake that you're forgiven.

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Not because you're deserving, not because you're so good looking that God must forgive you, not because of anything on your part. In 1 John 1, verse 8 and 9, John challenges us to say, look, if we say that we have no sin, we're deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And that's incredible. But also here's what that means.

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It would be unfaithful and unjust for God to not forgive our sins when we confess. God has bound up your forgiveness with his name. It's to protect his reputation. It's for his honor and his glory. He says, look, it is the right thing for me to do to forgive you. Your forgiveness is bound up with the nature and character of God.

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Now this is important truth for us to grasp hold of because very often in life it is not going to feel like that is true. We're not going to necessarily feel forgiven. We're not going to necessarily feel the truth and the reality that is. Paul says in Romans chapter 8 verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation, no more wrath of God.

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If God were to put all of his wrath towards you in a vial, it would be empty. There is no condemnation towards you as a believer in Jesus Christ. But how often do we feel differently than that? And we feel like God's upset with us, that he's storing up wrath for us, that he is looking for a repayment and he's out to get us. We can feel that way, especially those who are newer in the faith,

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And that's why John says, I'm writing to you because your sins are forgiven you for his namesake. You need to know, and I want you to know, I'm telling you, it's done. It's finished. It was completed at the cross and nothing will change that. Well, he speaks to the little children again in verse 13. Let's dive into that. It's right at the end of the verse. He says, I write to you little children because you have known the father.

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So now we get the second thing that he says, the second reason he is writing to the little children. This time he says a different reason. First, because your sins are forgiven. And now, because you have known Jesus.

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Now, technically, when he says little children here, it's a slightly different word, but it's the same basic idea. It is, there's a core word, and then he adds a little flourish onto it to make it a little bit more affectionate, a term of endearment. And so little children, again, it's the same idea. I'm writing to you because you have known the Father.

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And this is where we get the idea here for the point. You have personal access to the Father. Because that word known is a word that doesn't talk about knowing information, having an intellectual knowledge, studying a book, or something like that. This is a knowledge that comes from experience. You could say it another way, because you have experienced the Father.

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Because you've connected with the Father. You have personal access to the Father is the idea that John is conveying here. I'm writing to you, little children, because you know God. And the reason why you can know God is because, as far as he is concerned, there is no sin separating you.

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The reason why you can have that kind of experience and fellowship and connection with the Father is because you've been forgiven. He looks at you and your sins have been cast as far as the east is from the west. And so the door is wide open. The welcome sign is out. And he says, come on in. I want to have fellowship with you.

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The veil in the temple provides us a really great illustration for this. Inside the Jewish temple, there was two rooms divided by a veil. The larger room was the first one where the priest would enter in. It's called the holy place. There's various furnishings there, the table of showbread and so on. And the priest would go in and minister there all the time. But the place beyond the veil was called the most holy place or the holy of holies.

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And the priests were not allowed to go in there. That's where the presence of God dwelt. The Ark of the Covenant was stored there, and God promised, between the wings of the cherubim on top of the Ark of the Covenant, that's where my presence will be, and that's where I will dwell with my people Israel. But when Jesus was there hanging upon the cross, being crucified, accomplishing for us the forgiveness that we've been considering and enjoying this morning,

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It tells us that while Jesus was on the cross, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. Meaning no man did it. No priest did that. From top to bottom, God grabbed hold of the veil, tore it into and signified to us that the way into the most holy place has been made available. Now the welcome mat is there out in front of the temple, speaking figuratively, of course, but

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The idea is God says, come on in. You can have access to the presence of God, to the very person of the Father, because your sins are forgiven. And so as we consider truth for growth at any stage, this is the first stage. So what you first believe, you are forgiven in Jesus Christ and you have access to the Father by faith in him. Well, let's move on to talk about the next group now.

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We're going to be starting in verse 13 where John addresses the fathers. Here's what it says at the beginning of verse 13. He says, I write to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning. And so here's point number two. You are capable of full maturity because you know God.

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This morning, the Apostle John wants you to know you are capable of full maturity because you know God. Now, as he addresses the fathers, again, who's he talking to? Is it a physical age group? Is it a literal age? Or let's add, you know, this complication to it. Is it just men?

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He's only talking to the men fathers. No, it was normal for them in the Greek language. And again, those who speak other languages will be familiar and understanding. When you speak of people in the plural, in many languages, you use the masculine plural.

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phrasing of it or the masculine form of it. And so this word fathers, yes, it can refer to your literal father. It can also be used and is used figuratively of our heavenly father. It also can be used of our ancestors and those who have gone before us. It's the same exact word that Darth Vader used to tell Luke that he was his father. And Hebrews chapter 11, verse 23, more importantly says,

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Notice what it says in Hebrews 11, 23. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents.

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Parents or fathers, not suggesting that there was two men that were the parents of Moses, but it was his mom and dad hid Moses for three months. And so what are we talking about here then? We're not talking about just men. We're not talking necessarily about just your literal father or just that you are a literal father. This is...

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a word, the word father, it comes from the root that means a nourisher, a protector, or an upholder. Nourisher, protector, upholder. And so here's how I would suggest it. This is a mature believer.

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This is someone, perhaps physically, you are responsible to nourish, protect, and uphold people in your lives. And that may include your literal children. It may include other family around you, whoever that might be that God has placed in your life. But also spiritually, as those who mature in the Lord, there is a, well, disciples make disciples.

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That there are those that God places in our lives for us to nourish and protect and uphold as we mature in our relationship with God. And so here's who John is addressing then. It's those who have that responsibility, those who have been entrusted people into their lives, physically or spiritually. And John addresses this group and he says, look, you need to know that you are capable of full maturity now.

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Because you know God. You're fathers. You have experienced some maturity. We're not talking to the little children now. We'll talk to the young men in a little bit. But this is the seniors of the group. They're mature. How did they become mature? Well, in life, of course, you can grow up. And just by the passing of time, your body ages.

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And so we get a group of people together like this, and it ranges from 15 to 75. Time has passed, the same amount of time, the same amount of space each day, but some many days and some fewer days. Some have matured along with that passing of time, and some have matured at different rates. Spiritually speaking, the same is true. Some have been around the Lord for a long time,

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and demonstrate that maturity and some have been around the Lord for a long time and they don't express the same kind of maturity. The author of Hebrews addresses this in Hebrews chapter 5. In verse 12 he says, by this time you ought to be teachers, to use John's word, by this time you ought to be fathers. You ought to be nourishing and upholding and protecting others. But the tragedy, the author of Hebrews says, is you need someone to teach you again the first principles.

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And so he challenges them as he goes on into chapter 6 of Hebrews saying, let's move on from this. Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, the little children, right? You have forgiveness by faith in Jesus Christ and access to the Father as a result. But there are those who have been around for much time and are stuck in that first phase, even though by this time they ought to be teachers. How does maturity happen?

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Well, John tells these fathers, these leaders, these mature believers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. This is essentially the same thing that he said to the little children. How did the mature believers go from little childhood to maturity? Because they know him who is from the beginning. Again, the word is know by experience.

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Mature believers are those who have access to the Father and have taken advantage of that to get to know the Father. They've passed through the most holy place into the Holy of Holies many times, many times, many times because they've had more time to do that. The new believer has the same access to the Father as

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but just less time experiencing the Father. But the mature believer has the same access to the Father, but has visited the Father for days and weeks and months and years. There's this built up and established relationship with the Father that builds in us the maturity of God.

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So he speaks to the fathers, and in a sense, you're mature, he says, but also you're not done maturing yet. He doesn't say, all right, fathers, I don't need to address you because you're already mature, and you know him who is from the beginning, and so I have nothing to write to you because you're already done. No, he says, I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

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You have a relationship with God. You've grown and developed in that relationship with God. And that's why you need to read 1 John because of that relationship with God that you have and the work that God wants to continue to do in that relationship that you have with him. Now let's move on to the next thing that he says to the fathers. In verse 14, it says this, I have written to you fathers because you have known him who is from the beginning. Wait, did I read the right verse? Does that sound familiar to anybody else?

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Verse 13, because you have known him who is from the beginning. Verse 14, because you have known him who is from the beginning. He says the same thing again. Huh? You think John made a mistake? You know, John was old when he wrote this book. You know what sometimes old people do? They say the same thing again because they forgot they said it the first time. It's exactly the same. I would suggest it's on purpose, inspired by the Holy Spirit, because maturity in Christ boils down to this one truth.

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relationship with the Lord. Pastor John Corson puts it this way. As you walk with Jesus, spiritual life gets simpler and simpler because the longer you walk with him, the fewer principles there are. He says, I used to have notebooks full of principles concerning success in ministry, theology, and family.

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But the more time that passes, the more I say, Jesus, you're my life. Not ministry, not theology, not success as a family, but just you. I love being with you. I love talking with you. I just love you. Maturity in our walk with the Lord boils down to that fellowship with God.

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That relationship with the Lord, that knowledge and understanding by experience of having spent much time in prayer, in worship, in conversation, in steps of faith and obedience, comes with much time in relationship with the Lord. And that's a challenge for someone who's mature because sometimes we can look at those things and go, look, I've read this passage a hundred times. Do I really need to read it again this morning?

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I've read through the scriptures. I've seen that song a thousand times. Do I really need to sing it again this morning? I know these things, you know, we can become so familiar that we kind of separate ourselves and we don't continue to engage in the relationship with the Lord that he is calling us to. And we begin to stall the maturity that God wants to develop in us. And so John says, no, don't let that happen. You're capable of full maturity.

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You've known him who is from the beginning. Now, another aspect of this idea of fathers or maturity, those who are entrusted with people physically or spiritually, is that, well, now you're entrusted with these people, and they're relying upon you, and they're in hard situations, and you're responsible to guide them and counsel them and help them and protect them and provide for them, and that's hard, and it's scary, and it's overwhelming, and many times we're lost, and we don't know what to do or how to help, and we try to help, and we mess it up more, and

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there's this challenge that we face when people are entrusted to us. But here I would encourage you to consider what John says. You've known him who is from the beginning. Who is the one who's from the beginning? The creator of the heavens and the earth. You know the creator, the one who has all wisdom and all knowledge and all power. You know him. And so you have access in those parental type responsibilities that you have to

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You have access to the one who has all the resources you need to be the protector, the nourisher, the upholder that is necessary for the people that are entrusted to you. You know, sometimes people save up their technical questions for when I come around. Oh, good, you're here. Look, I've been trying to do this on my phone. Can you show me how to do this?

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When I go visit my family, usually there's a list. Like, okay, this printer's broken, and that device, we can't figure out what to do, and what do you think about this, and what should I buy for this kind of thing, right? Saving up those things for when that person who knows those things is nearby. Listen, you have access to the one who is from the beginning, who has all wisdom, and you don't have to wait. I'm not saying you can't seek counsel from other believers and get some wisdom there, but you have access. You know the one who is from the beginning. You have access to him.

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and the opportunity to receive from him what you need to be the mature believer, to be the nourisher, upholder, and protector for those that God has entrusted to you. Now, it's interesting to me that he says the same thing to the fathers twice, right? But it's also the same thing he spoke to the little children, right?

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Because, well, little children, you need to understand you are capable of full maturity. What you need to be the most mature person in the Lord, you have access to. It's relationship with the Father. Think about the most spiritual mature person that you know, or maybe that you've heard of. Don't make me blush. You're all thinking about me. I can see it on your faces. That's kind of embarrassing. No. Whoever that is.

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You have the same capability to be mature as they do. You have the same access to the Father. You have the same forgiveness. You have the same scriptures. You have the same Holy Spirit dwelling within you. You are capable of full maturity. It's up to you. The word known, we talked about perfect, indicative, active, or passive before, right? This one's perfect, indicative, active. Now we're hitting the ball. That is, the invitation is open. The veil is torn.

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You get to take the active voice now and say, God, I'm going to draw near to you. And God, I'm going to spend time with you. You are capable of full maturity because you know God. Well, finally, let's look at the last group he addresses, the young men. We're going to start in verse 13, kind of right in the middle of the verse. He says, I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. Now, as he addresses the young men, he gives them confidence.

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The fact, the truth that they have overcome. And so I've worded this last point this way. You have victory because God's word is working in you. You have victory because God's word is working in you. I write to you young men because you have overcome the wicked one.

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Now again, is John addressing a physical group? You know, young men, a certain range of ages? No, of course not. Is he talking really just to the males, just to the guys? No, of course not. Again, he's addressing, all of us really could fit into this category, those who are growing and developing into maturity.

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You know, there's the fathers, those who are full age. There's the little children. And then in between is this very strange, crazy, mystical time period called adolescence. And I think if we, you know, maybe you don't like to dwell on it too much. Maybe some of you guys are living there still, but...

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I mean, those are tough years, those adolescent years, those teen years, right? Those are years that it's kind of insane to think how we survived those years because your body just goes crazy and the hormones are going crazy and like things are happening to you that you just don't understand. You're experiencing emotions that you don't know how to manage, that you've never experienced before. And in the meantime, your mind is not fully formed. You're still trying to figure things out and learn how to think differently.

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Life and death things don't seem like life and death to you in that time period. And yet the little things that you'll think of as so meaningless later feel like life and death. Like I'm going to die if I don't get to go to that event. It's so important, the little things, but the important things, it's so reversed. And so you're in this mixed up place and yet you're in situations to make decisions that are going to affect you the rest of your life. Like

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It's kind of crazy, this adolescent years. Yet somehow we survive. We get through it. I think there's a similar parallel to spiritual adolescence, where your spiritual understanding is growing,

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but it's not fully formed. You're not mature yet. You don't fully understand the things of the Lord, and you are experiencing emotions that you don't know how to manage, and now you're experiencing things on the spiritual side that you never knew existed before. And so there's spiritual work that's happening. There's spiritual battles that are going on that you were never exposed to before. And sometimes life and death seems like

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Not that important. And sometimes the little things in your relationship with the Lord or the relationship with other believers, like, just are so big and seem like life and death. You've got things backwards. Your decisions that are going to affect the rest of your life. You have the enemy against you. Spiritual adolescence is a crazy time. But here's what you need to know. You have overcome the wicked one. The word overcome, it means...

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to conquer, to prevail in battle, or to defeat. You have overcome. You have conquered. You have defeated. I would say it this way. The victory is promised, although the adolescent battle rages on. In our developing years, as we learn to really mature in our faith, we have the promised victory while we walk through the midst of the battle.

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In Romans chapter 8, Paul says, what shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? We have victory because God is for us. He says in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And so there is this promise of victory in the midst of the adolescent battle.

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We'll jump down to verse 14 for the second thing he addresses to the young men. At the end of the verse there, he says, I've written to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the wicked one. He repeats the overcoming part. You have overcome. That's the promise. That's the truth. That's a fact. You have overcome.

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But also he says you are strong. So have overcome, that's the perfect tense. The work is done. You have the victory, but also in the midst you are strong. That's the present. And the word of God abides in you. That's the present. So there is this strength that you have now, this abiding word of God in you. And I would suggest it to you this way. It's why I worded the point that way. You have victory, but

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Because God's word is working in you. Because you are strong, he says, first of all, here in verse 14. Now, when you're facing that, if you're in the midst of those adolescent battles, you might hear that. You are strong and think, I don't know that that's talking about me. Maybe I'm the little children because I don't feel like I'm strong.

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Maybe you feel more like Gideon. In Judges chapter 6, the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon while he was hiding and threshing wheat and says, the Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. And I imagine Gideon looking around like, who is he talking to? Because I'm here hiding. And Gideon's response, he unleashes all of the emotional turmoil that he's experiencing. Judges chapter 6 verse 13, he says, oh my Lord,

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If the Lord is with us, why then has this happened to us? And where are all his miracles? Didn't the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

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Gideon's response is, he just bursts out these emotions. Really, the Lord's with us? I don't know. Why then? Why has this happened in my life? Why is this battle going on? Why is this difficulty taking place? And where are the miracles? Why isn't God doing something about this? And how has he delivered us into the hands of the Midianites? What do you mean I'm strong? I'm not strong. Now, he would go on to trust the Lord and have great victory that was promised, just like all adolescent believers. You are strong.

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Gideon says, no, I'm not. I have doubts. I have questions. I don't understand. I'm hiding. I'm emotional. And yes, as young believers, we will experience all of that. And I would say, as old believers, we will still experience all of that. Doubts and questions and struggles and emotions. But you're strong because the word of God abides in you. Isaiah 55, 11, God says, my word shall not return void. It will accomplish what I please.

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It will prosper in the thing which I sent it. God's word accomplishes his work. And because the word of God abides in you, you are strong. Now don't think of strength as like, now I can attack. Here's a different way to think of strength. Victory and overcoming, right? That doesn't mean you're on the offense, but think about it in terms of what Jesus shared in the parable of the wise and the foolish builder. Matthew chapter seven, he says...

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There's two kinds of people. They both hear my words, but the one who hears my words and does them is like the one who digs down deep and builds his house on the rock. And the storm comes, the floods hit, the torrents hit, but the house stands because it was founded on the rock. But the one who hears my words and does not do them, they both hear, but that one's like the house built on the sand. And the storm comes, the floods hit, and the house is destroyed."

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Now, as you picture this house, the house of the wise man, the storm hits. And you could picture a house that's like, hey, I'm strong. I have victory. You know, I'm good. Bring on the storm. I don't picture that house. That's not what Jesus is trying to express here. He's saying, look, that storm is overwhelming and it looks like it's going to destroy your life, but you're strong. You're going to survive it. You're going to endure it.

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You're going to get through it because God's word is abiding in you and you have victory and everything that the enemy wants to accomplish in your life is going to be unsuccessful in the end because God will work all things together for good. And so these are some incredible truths for us to be able to grasp hold of and grow at any stage of our life. Let me just run through these points and then we'll enter into our time of worship as we conclude today.

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You have personal access to the Father because your sins are forgiven. Grasp hold, this is a fact. It's not a question. It's not a speculation. It's the fact. You have access to the Father because your slate is wiped clean. It was accomplished for you. And to this day, no matter what's happened in between, because you believed in Jesus, you have personal access to the Father.

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You don't need a mediator to go in before you. That mediator is Jesus who invites you in to the presence of the Father. Secondly, you are capable of full maturity because you know God. You have everything that you need. Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1.3, we have all that we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him.

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Everything that you need for those responsibilities that you have, everything that you need for spiritual growth, everything that you need for the challenges ahead are found in your relationship with God. He will provide for you everything that you need. And in the end, you will have victory, point number three, because God's word is working in you. His word will not return void. It will accomplish his purposes in you. And you will see the victory because of his word working

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his work, his life, and his truth in you. The worship team is going to close us out in a song, and so let's stand together as we prepare to worship. And as we do, I would encourage you to ask God to settle in your heart these truths.

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Wherever you're at, whatever stage you find yourself in, maybe all of these apply to you. Maybe there's, you know, one or more that stand out. But invite the Lord to highlight for you and settle in your heart these things that he wants to speak to you about that you might then go forward on the basis of the reality that he has declared. Not how you feel, not what you think, but what he declares to be true about you. Let's worship the Lord together.

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We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.