Willow Ridge Sermons

Sunday, January 22nd • Beau Bradberry

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." — 1 John 2:15

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Show Notes

January 22nd, 2023 • "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." — 1 John 2:15

–
Podcast: https://pod.link/willowridgechurch
Website: https://willowridgechurch.org
Instagram: https://instagram.com/willowridgechurch
Facebook: https://facebook.com/willowridgechurch
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@willowridgechurch

Creators and Guests

Host

Beau Bradberry

Senior Pastor

What is Willow Ridge Sermons?

Sermon audio from Sunday services at Willow Ridge Church.

Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.

We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear the latest message.

Thanks for listening.

Well, good morning again. Glad that you guys are here with us.

I echo what Berger shared with you. We're so glad that each and every one of you are here, especially for our first-time guest.

Aaron and I will be back here to my left at our welcome table.

We'd love for you to stop by so that we can meet you, and thank you for being here and worshiping with us.

If you've got your Bibles, open up to 1 John chapter 2. We're going to start here in verse 12 here in just a moment.

We are working through a series together in 1, 2, and 3 John.

And so as we do that, typically we do this at the beginning of the year, and we're doing this.

Now we've got a partner series that we're working with with Right Now Media.

And so we've got a connection with that with Dr. Tony Evans, and he is working through 1, 2, and 3 John on a Right Now Media series.

And we are going to be walking and following the outline, the pattern of scripture that he's using with that as well.

And so a lot of our small groups are going through this, and we have a lot of families that are going through this,

and a lot of individuals that are going through this, and you can do that by going on and getting a Right Now Media account if you already have one.

And so we've got these cards. They'll be back here. You can stop. You can grab one. It is free.

It is not free for the church. We pay for it, right, as part of our tithes and offerings go into that for discipleship.

But you do not have to pay anything specifically in order to do that.

So you can go by, grab one of these cards. If you are a guest, you are invited to grab one as well.

If you've got friends or family that are not a part of this church and they want to journey with us, you can grab one for them as well.

It is wonderful what Right Now Media does, and we're so grateful to have this tool to help us study God's Word.

And so we want to make sure that you're a part of that.

Well, we're going to go ahead and jump right in as we continue on in our series.

So I'm going to read this morning to begin with verses 12 through 14.

So if you join me, 1 John 2, starting in verse 12.

John writes, and he says,

I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his namesake.

I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who was from the beginning.

I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.

I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.

I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him who was 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.

So this is going to be the passage, these three verses, that I think we're going to land on the most this morning.

Now we're going to work down through several other verses in this passage as we continue on.

But this is going to be our main landing point.

Now, this passage creates some complications from the very beginning.

John is addressing in the written form that we see, specifically, three groups of people as we read this.

He says to young children, he says to young men, and he says to fathers.

Now, this week, I'm trying to read through and understand exactly who he is communicating, and more specifically, why is John communicating with these titles?

Why is John communicating in these categories?

And after, if I had way more hair than I had, it would have been pulled out, right?

But I'm holding on to the little parts that I've got left up here, right?

So I was trying to stay away from that.

Here's the conclusion that multiple scholars have come to.

We don't know.

But what all the scholars agree is this.

He's not just speaking to children.

He's not just speaking to young men.

He's not just speaking to fathers.

And instead, what he's doing is casting a large net to the church, to the readers as a whole, that says that this speaks to you, church.

For those of you who claim the name of Jesus Christ, to claim that you are in a saving relationship with him, that these three verses apply to you.

So as we go from here, our struggle might not be with trying to understand who are the children, who are the young men, who are the fathers.

But looking at that, regardless of our age, regardless of our gender, and understanding that if I claim that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, then these characteristics apply to me.

And I think what John's going to help us out with and help his readers out with at the time is this.

Christians who are struggling with an identity crisis.

And what I mean by that is this.

We looked at last week, you know, walking in darkness versus walking in light.

And I kind of came from that as we navigate through this is that are we one of three different types of people?

Am I a person who walks in light and desires to grow in light?

Am I a person who walks in the truth of the Lord and desires to walk in the truth of the Lord?

If that is you, that is an exciting realization for you to have.

I am in Christ and I desire to know him and to be obedient to him.

Or am I a person who walks in darkness but yet expects to grow in light?

That all that I do, that all that I pursue, that all that I want are the ways and the patterns of this world.

I love the fact that we sang Graves in the Gardens because it's a wonderful picture of what God has done.

I searched the world but it couldn't fill me.

Right?

And so what we see in this is are you someone who walks in darkness, walks in sin, walks in the pursuits of this world,

and then steps back and wonders, why is my relationship with Christ stale?

Why am I not growing?

Why am I struggling?

And if that's the realization that you come to today, I'm sorry that's where you are,

but I'm excited that you're listening to the Spirit.

Or third, am I a person who walks in darkness and expects to grow in darkness?

Nah.

This ain't for me.

This is not where I'm at.

This is not what I'm pursuing.

Where I'm heading, I know where I'm heading, I know where I'm going.

Whether it's in this life or the next.

And what we would say to that is we're glad that you're here.

We're glad that this is what you decided to be this morning to find the hope that I'm at.

But Christians who struggle with identity crisis, I want to ask a couple of questions.

Ask yourself this, what do I want to be?

You ever met someone, or maybe it's you, and you've gone through what we call midlife crisis,

especially in career, and you have that realization that what I'm doing is not what I want to do,

and you have the realization that when I grow up, I want to be this, you know?

And it's like, that's a tough realization to hit you at 45.

Like, I know, I know, right?

But at least I'm acknowledging where I'm at, right?

What do I want to be?

What do I want to become?

Ask yourself this in Christ.

In Him, what do you want to be and what do you want to become?

That's the part of Christianity, the process of growing in Him, of walking in the light,

that I recognize and see in myself who I want to be, and if this is who I want to be,

then I need to understand that this is what I need to become.

That, praise the Lord, He's working and moving in me, but also, who am I?

And who am I right now?

Who am I right now?

And what John is doing this, is asking this question that we can draw from this, is who

are you?

Who are you?

When it comes to your identity in Christ, who are you?

Because when we understand who we are in Christ, and what Christ has done, and what that means

in our life, and what He is doing, and what He has done, and what He desires to do,

then we can see what it looks like to walk in light, to pursue light, to flee from darkness,

and not to walk in darkness, to grow in the light, and not to grow in the darkness.

And so, in these three verses, John gives these five categories, as we can draw from, and understand

who we are in Christ.

This is the affirmation, this is the positive enforcement that John is giving the readers

of this, of who are they to be like as they walk in the light.

So, in verse 12, he says, I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven

for you, for His namesake.

So, who are you in Christ?

Christ, you are forgiven.

You are forgiven.

That is who you are.

When you are in Christ, you are forgiven fully.

Past, present, future.

The sins that you pursued, the sins that you're in, the sins that you will pursue, Christ has

forgiven you.

God, the Father, in His love for you, sent Jesus, His Son, to die for you, and if you are saved,

you are forgiven.

When you run, He forgives.

When you plead for something else, He forgives.

This is who they are.

And the fact that you and I are forgiven speaks to who God is and not to who we are.

We are forgiven.

And here's the deal.

Satan hates that you are forgiven.

He hates that it's not a count that's building against you.

He hates that in Christ and in Christ alone, you are forgiven.

So He uses shame and guilt to keep you in your sin.

And He tries to defeat that which has been redeemed.

And so in this, we find within ourselves that we have a hard time forgiving ourselves, that

we have a hard time forgiving others.

And then we apply that to the Lord.

But God doesn't have a hard time forgiving you because He's paid the action through Christ and through Christ fully.

And so John says that your sins are forgiven for His namesake.

For His namesake.

Now, as recipients of grace, we live in the benefit of this.

But John says that we are forgiven, that your sins are forgiven for His namesake.

And what does that mean?

It means this.

It's not in your ability and your merit and who you are that you are forgiven,

but it is in the name of Jesus Christ that sins are forgiven.

It's not in the name of works.

It's not in the name of religion.

It's not in the name of any other pursuit.

But it is in the name of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone that you are forgiven.

That's why Jesus says that He is the way, the truth, and the life.

Through Him.

Which means this.

It's for His glory.

So that when we live in grace, when we live in the beauty,

of what the gospel does for us, it's not for our glory.

It's not for my glory.

It's not for our glory.

It's for His glory in His name.

So we are forgiven.

You are forgiven.

But the next part of our identity that John covers,

and we're going to look at the first part of verse 13,

is that you know Christ.

You know Christ.

First part of verse 13, he says,

I write to you fathers,

because you have known Him who is from the beginning.

You know Jesus.

You have experienced and are experiencing a relationship with Him.

And when you know Him, He knows you.

Jesus paints a picture for this in John 10, chapter 27.

And He says this.

Jesus says,

My sheep hear my voice.

I know them, and they follow me.

And I love that picture that Jesus gives of what a relationship looks like.

He says,

My sheep know my voice.

I know them, and they follow me.

So here's what Jesus describes of what it's like to know Him.

Number one within there,

Jesus implies through this that He's our shepherd.

He's where we find our comfort, our safety, our life.

He's where we find our satisfaction.

He's where every need is met.

This is who Jesus is.

He's the provider and the protector of everything.

And all we have is because of Him.

Jesus is our shepherd.

And here's what's beautiful.

He says,

I know His voice.

We have an overly aggressive, energetic dog at our house.

All right?

Julie just laughed.

She lives across the street from us, right?

If you've met Otis,

you know that Otis is a wild man.

And I took him to the vet on Friday.

And they, at our vet,

they come in and they greet you,

and then they put you into a room,

and then they take the dog back away from you

to do whatever they're going to do now.

And I said to the vet tech,

I don't recommend that.

I just don't.

And then Otis went back in the back with her.

And then I'll just say for the next five or ten minutes,

there was a lot of noise.

Right?

And then they brought Otis back to me.

And he heard my voice.

And he listened.

The vet came back out.

First thing she said,

you've got a beautiful

and healthy

and really energetic dog.

It's like, yeah, we know.

We know.

Next time, let's just do this here.

Right?

It's where we are.

But here's the difference.

He's not listening to them

because he doesn't know their voice.

Jesus says

that I know my sheep,

my sheep,

and they hear my voice.

And they run,

and they come to,

and they listen to the voice that they know.

Whose voice are you listening to?

I hear people say so often,

it's so hard in this world

to follow and listen to Jesus.

And I just want to ask the question,

and this is the question

when that statement comes up in my heart.

Really?

Because you know his voice.

Is it hard to listen

or is it hard to obey?

The third thing that Jesus says

in John 10, 27

is that he knows me.

He knows me.

My sheep hear my voice,

and I know them.

I know them.

If this isn't a spiritual hug

for you this morning,

I'm sorry,

but I just want to say this.

Jesus knows you.

He knows right where you're at.

He knows every battle you're facing.

He knows every insecurity

that is building up in you.

He knows every area of strength,

every area of weakness.

He knows all your good,

all your bad,

all your ugly.

Jesus knows the beauty

that is in you,

and Jesus knows the sin

that you're capable of.

And he loves you,

and the Bible tells us

that Jesus knows you.

In this world,

you may feel insignificant.

In this world,

you may feel that you're not heard.

In this world,

you may feel like no one cares.

In this world,

you may feel that no one knows you.

And I just want to tell you,

Jesus knows you.

He knows you.

And we hear his voice.

And he knows us.

And we know him.

And then Jesus says,

and here's what my sheep do.

They follow me.

They walk where the shepherd walks.

They go where the shepherd sins.

They do what the shepherd does.

They follow me.

They walk in light,

not in darkness.

You know Jesus.

The third thing that John says here

is he says you were in victory.

Look at the second part of verse 13.

We're going to look at one more part of this.

But he says,

I write to you, young men,

because you have overcome the wicked one.

Now, all of these statements

that John is giving

are promises,

are fulfilled promises

and fulfilling promises.

Jesus doesn't lie.

God's word doesn't lie.

Have you ever made a promise

you didn't fulfill?

Yes, absolutely you have.

Jesus doesn't do that.

God's word doesn't do that.

So when John writes,

he says,

I write to you, young men,

because you have overcome the wicked one.

You have.

You've overcome.

You are in victory.

But you say,

but I didn't feel like that.

I understand.

Oftentimes,

our feelings lie to us

and deceive us

of the truth that we know.

Spiritual warfare is real.

Jesus himself tells us

that Satan is like a lion roaming.

That Satan seeks to steal,

kill, and destroy.

That this is who he is.

But what happens within us

is we forget

that we are not hoping

for victory that will come,

but right now,

that you and I,

in Christ,

we are victors in him.

And oftentimes,

we see ourselves

as those who are solely

in the conflict.

And we miss the fact

that because the tomb

is empty,

Jesus has already won.

And when we are in him,

we are in victory.

I read this quote.

And if you're like,

Bobo,

you don't know the battle I'm in.

You're right.

But here's what I want

to share with you,

this quote.

It says,

in victory with Christ,

this does not mean

you are pulled

from the battlefield,

but it does mean

that you can face the battle

without fear

or wavering.

I get it.

If you're not in the battle,

something's wrong.

If you're not in the battle,

then you better be waiting for it.

But just because we're in the battle

doesn't mean that the victory

hasn't already been won.

The fourth thing

that we see here from John

is you are instructable.

You are instructable.

Last part of verse 13.

I write to you little children

because you have known

the Father.

Now here,

this looks like

some similar language

that we've seen previously

in verse 12

and in part of verse 13.

But John does something here

that is different

than what he's done before

and particularly in the word

that he uses for children.

In verse 12,

the word for children

is used for

the description of a child

that is depending

on its parent.

So here's what we can draw

from that with verse 12

is that you and I

as a child of Christ

depend on his forgiveness.

We cling to that.

That's what we need.

But here at the end

of verse 13,

he uses a different word

word for children

that carries with it

a different meaning.

And here the word

for child

that is used

is the focus

is on the developmental

immaturity

of a child.

And it paints a picture

that children,

right,

they're immature

and therefore

need to be under

the guidance

or instruction

of the parent.

And maybe a better word

than immature

is ignorance.

They're ignorant

until they're taught.

They're ignorant

until they're instructed.

And so this is why

parents,

we teach our kids

whether by direct

instruction

or observation

of how to walk

through life.

It's why we don't take

a three-year-old,

hey,

mom and dad

are going out

for dinner tonight,

fix yourself something

to eat.

Why?

Because they're

an immature child.

That's bad.

You deserve to go to jail

if you do that, right?

That's where we are.

So John writes this

and says that we

like immature children

that need to be

instructed by the Father.

But it's not

in a negative sense

that he gives this to us.

He doesn't say,

you know what,

you're so bad

and you're so wrong

and you need

to be instructed.

He says,

no, no, no, no,

you're instructable.

You're capable

of learning.

You're capable

of doing.

This is who

you are

in Christ.

So not only

in your life

and in my life

is there room

for growth

and obedience

but that through

the power

of the Holy Spirit

in us

we're capable

of that

and no sin

that you have

and no sin

that I have

is too big

to overcome

through the working

of the Lord.

we're instructable

and that gives us

some great freedom

and hope

to know

that that

which tries

to imprison me

and enslave me

victory's already

been won

and through the power

of the Holy Spirit

not through the power

of my own

there's victory

that can be found

in that

because I'm

instructable.

and then John

says in verse 14

he says

you are strong

I have written

to you fathers

because you have

known him

who was from

the beginning

I have written

to you young men

because you

were strong

and the word

of God

abides in you

and you

have overcome

the wicked

one.

John surmises

in verse 14

all that he says

this is the word

what the world

wants to tell you

that you're weak

but because

the word

of God

is in you

you

are

strong

go walk

in light

go be

who God

owe all

that God

has called you

to be

go grow

in the areas

that you need

to grow

live in victory

on the battlefield

not in a

in a

false sense

of defeat

be who you are

walk in light

and then

he continues on

we're gonna

we're gonna look at these

the remainder

of chapter 2

he says this

look at verse 15

through 17

do not love

the world

or the things

in the world

if anyone

loves the world

the love

of the father

is not in him

for all that

is in the world

the lust

of the flesh

the lust

of the eyes

and the pride

of life

is not

of the father

but is of

the world

and the world

is passing

away

and the lust

of it

but he

who does

the will

of God

abides forever

and the challenge

that I wanna give us

this morning

is this

don't waste

your love

don't waste

your love

have you ever been

hurt in love

from everything

from that first

girlfriend

in fifth grade

you wrote

the note

too

and she

circled

yes

right

I just realized

that I spoke

to a generation

just then

that have

no clue

what I'm

talking about

right

or you sent

her a text

right

there we are

right

said yes

and then a few

minutes later

you got one

back that said

nah never mind

just kidding

right

all the way

to a relationship

that you're

investing in

and that you're

hoping to share

the gospel with

and they've hurt

you

and you feel

like my love

has been wasted

I've poured

all of that

into this

and yet I feel

like it's gone

all the way

to the things

of this world

that we pursue

that are not

of God

here's the truth

of what it means

to love

God calls us

to love

we are to be

people of love

and in that

he loves us

and we love him

and we love each other

and we love lost people

it's why we gather

together

it's why we open

his word

it's why we give

our offerings

it's why we come

to him in prayer

it's why we invest

in others

it's why we share hope

it's why we disciple

it's why we go

it's why we do

anything that we do

is out of love

God loves us

and calls us

to love

from two weeks ago

it's why we turn

the other cheek

it's why we give

our cloak

it's why we go

the extra mile

it's why we give

to those who need

because God calls

us to love

and all of this

flows from something

all that he's

called us to

all that he demands

from us

it comes from

our love for him

and his love

for us

the love that he

calls us to

is a love

that is not rooted

in ourselves

in our circumstances

or in our culture

but is rooted

watered

and grown

in our love

for him

all love

that he calls us to

comes from him

and when we go

and love

out of that source

when we go

and love

because he

first loved

it's not

wasted

it's not

wasted

because it

brings him

glory

in our

obedience

but John warns

here

that when we

walk in light

this is the love

but his warning

is when we

walk in darkness

there's wasted

love

there's sinful

love

and he

categorizes

it by the

love of the

world

but then he

describes it

he says

it's the lust

of the flesh

it's the lust

of the eyes

it's the pride

of life

of the things

we look at

and we pursue

and I'm sure

we can break

out smaller

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