1 John chapter 2 and read from verse 12 again. 1 John 2 verse 12, I write you little children because your sins are forgiven you for His namesake. I write you fathers because you've known Him who's from the beginning. I write you young men because you've overcome the wicked one. I write you, little children, because you've known the Father. I've written to you, fathers, because you've known Him who's from the beginning. I've written to you, young men, because you're strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the wicked one. Every now and then, I will preach a sermon and when I'm finished, I will suspect that perhaps one or two or a few people might be discouraged by it. Not because what I've said is untrue or that my tone has been unnecessarily harsh, I certainly try to guard against that, but sometimes I know that once we've finished looking at the Word of God, the standard that the Word has put in place seems daunting. It can seem sometimes so high and so unreachable that you can walk out feeling a little bit like, well, who can ever do that? And as a pastor, I know that you not only need a clear statement of what God requires, you often also need a lot of encouragement for what God supplies, what God promises to do, how God promises to sustain you. If all you get is a steady diet of what God requires and His unyielding standards, over time you can become discouraged, a sense of weight. But if all you get is the grace of God and the mention of what God is promising to do, gentle encouragements about that over time, you can start to take the grace of God for granted, not apply it, not see the need for it. And in this very passage, John is doing exactly that. In this scripture, John is being very much the pastor. We see his pastor's heart. We know up to now what has he been doing. He has been giving us statement after statement after statement of what the Christian life is. And he's been doing it in a completely uncompromising fashion, hasn't he? You're in the light or you're in darkness. You're either loving the brethren or not. You're either a Christian or you aren't. Uncompromising opposites. Life, death. Light, darkness. Love, hatred. He's just been telling you, if you have this, then you have eternal life. If you don't, then you don't. And in so doing, he's been setting this very high standard of God's holiness, how we ought to live. We should confess our sins. We must obey God's commandments. We must imitate Jesus Christ. We must love the brethren. And John knows, as a pastor, that when you've been firm and unyielding, you also need to be encouraging and comforting. And what he seeks to do here is to comfort, encourage, and motivate believers. And the way he does that is by reminding us that all of us are at different stages of maturity. You see, even though he's giving you an absolute statement of what the Christian life is like, this is what believers do, he's also saying, but I recognize we're all growing. I recognize that you don't get this in a day. Some of you are little children. Some of you are young men. Some of you are fathers. He recognized we're all works in progress. We don't reach maturity in one day. You see, the Bible's telling us we're in a family, right? There are only two families in the world, by the way, if you didn't know that, God's family and Satan's family. And if you're in God's family, then there's signs of growth. You're going to be at different levels, and there's going to be different roles that you take. And so in the church of God, we should recognize there are going to be different stages of maturity, and we need to learn to recognize them and respect them. The other way he wants to encourage us is not only by saying, look, I know you're not going to be perfect in a day, I know you're growing. The other way he's going to encourage us in this passage is by reminding us of our resources in Christ. He's going to keep telling you, this is what's true of you. This is what's true of you. This is what's true of you. Just act it out. I hope you've noticed that The New Testament, the standards it sets for you, if you don't understand what God first puts into you, if you just try to live the New Testament out, it is a very discouraging book. Have any of you ever tried to just live the Sermon on the Mount out? If you don't have some kind of supernatural invasion of power, some kind of position out of which you can act, there is no way you will live the New Testament out. And you'll be incredibly discouraged at the thought, God wants me to do the spiritual equivalent of leap off a 10-story building and fly to another one. How could I ever do that? But what you find out as you go through the Bible is Christian religion is this, God never asks you to do anything without first telling you all that he has given you to accomplish it. God never tells you to do anything without supplying all you need to do that thing he wants you to do. And so what you're going to see in this passage is God's going to say, this is what's true of you. This is what's true of you. This is what I've put into you. Now live it out. Become what you are. Work out what I've worked in. So as we look at this passage, we're going to see John divides Christians up into three levels of spiritual maturity. Little children, young men, and fathers. And you say, well, is he excluding female believers? No, he's just using those terms as a general way of referring to all of us, just like we sometimes use the term mankind to speak about all of humanity. And so he's using the term little children, young men, and fathers to talk about male and female believers in the church. Also, these terms don't correlate to physical age. You see, the interesting thing about spiritual maturity is this. You can have an 80-year-old man who has just trusted Christ, he's a new Christian, and therefore he's one of the little children. You can find a lady in her mid-forties who is in the young man stage of Christian growth. You might even find a man in his 20s who's in the father stage of Christianity. See, we grow at different rates in the spiritual realm, depending on how we apply ourselves to the means of grace. We're not all of a piece. We're saved at different physical ages. And all of this influences how we pursue the Lord, our spiritual state. So what you're going to see here is three messages. A message to the little ones, a message to the young men, and a message to the fathers. You might say, well, what am I? Well, it's not as important that you know what you are as that you recognize all these things are true of you. And it's also important that you recognize how to treat and respect the differences in the church of God. But let's begin with the message to the little ones. The message to the little ones, which is this, you're saved and you're sons. You're saved and you're sons. Look at verse 12. He says, I write to you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write to you little children. Who are the little children? Well, the word in the original means very small children, infants, babies, little children, the youngest in the family. Who are the youngest in the family of God? New believers, right? Those who have recently trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, recently come into the faith. They're just beginning this new life of Christ, a new life of following Him. You know, it's a precious time. When we have little ones in our physical families, they're a delight, aren't they? Their simplicity, their wide-eyed wonder, their curiosity, it's a joy. And in the same way, new believers are a delight just like that. You know, they're delighting in their salvation. Everything is new. Everything is wonderful. The Word of God is a whole new world of truth to be explored. The questions they ask are direct and simple and to the point. Their prayers are delightful, just to the point, open, direct. New believers are a wonderful part of any church. In fact, When a church almost loses its new believers, it doesn't have any new believers, a kind of coldness sets in, doesn't it? A sense of, wow, what's happened to all that zeal, all that youth, and all the more reason for us to invite and evangelize that we might have some baby Christians, right? And I know baby Christians also make messes, but the truth is that there's a lot of joy as well in having infant believers filling our church with their enthusiasm, their joy, and their zeal. So what does John say to baby Christians? He writes to newer believers. In verse 12, he says, this is true of you. Your sins have been forgiven you for His namesake. Now, that doesn't mean it's not true of the other groups. It is. Of course, all of us have our sins forgiven for his namesake. But what John is doing is he's taking a truth which is especially precious to you when you've just been saved. My sins have been forgiven. I've been saved. I hope that truth doesn't ever become stale to you. For the new believer, it's new and it's precious. This word for forgiven in verse 12, in the original, it's in what's called the perfect tense. And what that means is it's an action that was completed in the past. It's done. And its effects are still with us. So in other words, the Bible is saying, hey, little Christians, remember, the day you trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, all your sins were forgiven. Completed action, done. In fact, when Jesus Christ was on the cross and he said his last words before he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit, what were his last words? He said, it is finished. And that's in the perfect tense as well. It's a perfect tense verb, which means it has been done, paid in full. And John wants new believers to just remember it has been accomplished. Jesus Christ has done it. He has cleansed you of all of your sin and it's true of you today Yes, you still confess your sins not because it's all in doubt and you're wondering am I ever gonna get forgiven? But because it has been forgiven and isn't this the big difference between Christians and false religion? Ask anybody who's not a true Christian all your sins forgiven and what will they say to you? Well, I certainly hope so. Well, I'm working towards it. Well, maybe, you know, I don't want to be too presumptuous. No one can really say, can we? Or perhaps one day when I'm in front of God, then He'll look at all my good deeds, and on that day, He'll be merciful to me, and He will forgive me on that day. I'm trying to store up merit. But that's all wrong, isn't it? You see, the Christian, the believer, can say, my sins have been forgiven me. Isn't that a joy? What a delight. What other religion can say, perfect tense, my sins have been forgiven me? With confidence. And John says, I write this to you because it's true of you. Why is it true of us? What does it say, verse 12? Your sins are forgiven you. Why? What does the verse say? For his name's sake. Why did God forgive us? Why did He forgive you? Because you were turning over a new leaf? Because you were heading in the right direction? Because your parents were Christians? What does it say? for His namesake. God forgave you because of His purposes, His plans, His nature, His merciful character. Listen, if it weren't for Him, just take all your hopes of forgiveness and dash them. God forgave you because of the perfection of Jesus Christ. Jesus stood in your place, laid down His life for you on the cross, and you can say, yes, Lord, my sins are forgiven me for Your namesake. I'm so glad that my salvation does not rest upon something that I had to do, some kind of pleasing act that I would have to do. Because if my salvation rested upon me, well, logically, what does that mean about my assurance? I can do something to lose it, can't I? If it was up to me to get it, well, then I can also just as well drop it. But if my sins have been forgiven me for his namesake, for whose namesake will I be kept saved? Amen. That's the assurance of even the baby Christian. Lord, my sins have been forgiven you for your name's sake. The religion of the Bible is that God gets all the glory because he's the source of all good things. The giver gets the glory. That's why in Isaiah he says, I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake. And that leads to something else, which John says new Christians know is true of them, which they should know is true of them. Look at the beginning of verse 14. He says, Sorry, end of verse 13. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father. New Christians know, my sins are forgiven me, but that doesn't just leave it there. I'm now a son, a daughter of God. I know God as Father. One of the first verses I memorized, maybe it was yours too. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right, the power, the authority to become children of God, even to those who believe on His name. It's not just, you know, somebody said God could have forgiven us and then kind of put us on a planet somewhere and just say, well now, stick to yourselves and try not to mess up again. But He doesn't. He forgives us and then He adopts us. Once again, perfect tense verb. You have come to know the Father. It happened in the past, completed action with results in the present. There was a day you were born into His family, there was a day you became His child, and it's still true of you. You know, one of the earliest reflexes that children have is to begin to recognize the face and the voice of their parents. I mean, usually, the first word of kids is what? Mama or dada, with the exception of my son, who said amen after a meal. But I mean, normal kids say mama and dada, OK? My daughter said the name of the dog first, which was, Usually, mama, dada starts happening very quickly. You know, they say the child even recognizes the voice of the mom in the womb. They recognize the sound of the mom's voice. And you know, there's something true of that in the spiritual realm. I think one of the earliest reflexes a Christian has once he or she is truly born again is to recognize father. Look at Galatians chapter four for a moment. Galatians chapter four. Galatians 4 and verse 6, he says this, and because you are sons, speaking to believers, and because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out, What? Abba. Father. Abba is Aramaic. It was a close personal title of address. Abba. Papa. Father. Daddy. You know, when little children get scared or when they get worried, they immediately begin calling out mommy or daddy. And I think something interesting happens to Christians. You'll find that when somebody's not a believer, sometimes they're in an emergency and suddenly they cry out to God, don't they? They say, God, help me. God, please, you know, protect me. But something different happens, I think, to Christians. And I've got no evidence for this except this scripture and personal experience, but maybe you can identify with it too. You become a Christian and something hits you, it's a big emergency or a big weight or something, and what wells up in you is, Father, help me. Experienced that? It's no longer God. You just, who taught you? Who taught you to just say, Father, help me? Father, strengthen. Who taught you that? No one taught you that except the spirit of His Son crying out in your hearts, Abba, Father. It's instinctive. We know God is Father. We aren't taught that. Now there's a family connection. There's kin, and we call God Father. And I think just like infants like to be carried by Father or hang on His leg or sit on His lap, and so believers, new believers, want to be around Father. They want to have that intimacy. They want to have that relationship of love. That's why when somebody prays a prayer with you, they say, I've accepted Jesus as Savior, but they never want to be around the Father. Well, something wrong, because a new believer has that longing. I want to be where the father is preached. I want to be around him. So if you're a new Christian and there's some of you here last year, two years, that you just trusted Christ, rejoice in your sonship. Rejoice in your salvation. Rejoice. I've been forgiven and I have a new family. And then keep on growing, keep on feeding. Look at 1 Peter 2. This is the word that we need to remember, all of us, but 1 Peter 2, verse 1. He says this. 1 Peter 2 and verse 1 now, sorry, verse 1, therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby, if indeed you've tasted that the Lord is gracious. If indeed you're saved, what should you be doing? Take in that milk of the word, feed, feed! And the more you feed, the bigger your appetite should get. Keep taking in the word, keep on eating. Now, while we all rejoice over new believers, just as much as we rejoice over new babies when they come into the church, there's a natural expectation for growth, isn't there? I mean, when you see a little baby in a pram, you know, it makes us coo and smile and we, you know, say things, you know, and we, you know, whatever. And we say cute-type things. But, you know, if you saw a bearded, six-foot, 90-kilogram man stuffed into that pram with a bottle of milk in his mouth going, mama, well, there would be something grotesque about that, wouldn't there? There'd be something rather scary about that. And in fact, the Bible expects growth and actually expresses great disappointment when it doesn't happen. You look at Hebrews chapter 5. You're in 1 Peter, just turn back two books. Hebrews chapter 5. God expects growth. It's beautiful to be a new Christian, but you can't stay that way. Your little children, we're happy for you. Stay that way. Feed, take in the milk. No one's rushing you. But there is a time to grow up. Hebrews 5 verse 12, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God and have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he's a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. And Paul says in Corinthians 3, he says, brethren, I couldn't speak to you as spiritual, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. So, you Christians, wonderful, but you get the sense that you can't stay there, right? You need to be growing. And unless you stunt your growth by disobediently neglecting all the things God gives you for your growth, you should progress into the next stage. It's not something difficult. You just take in the things God's given you, take in the Word, you pray, you come with believers, you do the things He's told you to do, and growth will happen. That leads us to the next stage, the stage that John calls young men. Look at 1 John 2 and let's read the verses about young men. The message to the little children, you're saved and your sons. Here's the message to the young men. The message to the young men. Verse 13, middle of that verse, I write to you young men because you have overcome the wicked one. And again, the latter part of verse 14, 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. Here's the message to the young men, you're strong and you're standing. Who are these young men? Well, the word here in the Greek means a youth, somebody who's beginning to reach manhood. He's reaching the prime of his powers. When our children go from cute to handsome and from pretty to beautiful, they're becoming young people. And they're starting to feel their own strength. They always want to carry things. And you set them free in a field, and they want to stretch those legs and sprint. And they're thinking for themselves, and they're starting to argue with you. Well, I mean, my son's three, and he argues with me. But, I mean, mostly, you get to that young person age, and they're kind of grappling with your opinions. They're thinking for themselves. Book of Proverbs, chapter 20, verse 29, says, the glory of young men is their strength. And they're a joy, aren't they? They're a joy to us as well. It's a marvelous thing to see young men, young women turning into these youths who are taking that journey of soon becoming men and women who will earn their own money, raise their own families. Well, in the Church of God, something similar happens. Christians go from this nursing stage to a stage of strength and independence. If a Christian keeps feeding on the Bible, keep taking in the word, they become more and more ready to take on the struggle for the faith. See, one of the perils of being a baby Christian is that they're easily led astray. Little children are gullible. We know little children put anything in their mouths, don't they, and swallow them. And so that's why Paul says in Ephesians 4.13, he says, I no longer want you to be children tossed about with every wind of doctrine carried here and there by the cunning craftiness of men. I want you to grow up. And so whereas when you're newly saved, you're just content to be a child of God, you're content to sit at the feet of God, to rejoice that you're saved. Well, when you start to grow up, You begin to notice there's a war out there. And people have objections to your faith. And people say you're wrong for being a Christian. And you see that there's a war not only outside of you, but inside of you. You thought it was going to be so easy. I mean, for a while you were just coasting, and you loved God, and you were a child, and I mean, just the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and suddenly you find out, man, there's this thing inside you that wars against you, that doesn't want to do the things that God wants you to do. You begin to question, was it real? And it's at this stage when the battles begin. And if you get to the stage, and you should, Then you start to take in the word and you're reading up on false teachings and false religions. You begin to understand correct doctrine. You're starting to sink your teeth into some things. You're not just enjoying a bottle of milk, you're starting to swinging a sword around. And so John says to Christians in this stage, he says, you're strong and the word of God abides in you and you've overcome the evil one. You're strong and you're standing. Or to put it another way, you're an overcomer. Heard that word? John loves that word. Uses it in this book and in Revelation. Look at 1 John 4 and verse 4. He says, you are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Look at chapter 5 and verse 4. He says, for whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. See, I often say this, Christians don't fight for victory, Christians fight from victory. Christ has won. When we studied Colossians, do you remember it told us that He disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle over them, triumphing over them in it? Jesus Christ led that. When the Roman emperors would return, they would often have their prisoners in chains, marching behind them as the chariot went forward through the streets, and they were hailed as the conqueror. The Bible says that's what Christ did at the cross. The demons were, as it were, chained, following Him as He led a triumphant march back to glory All of creation hailed Him, hailed King Jesus. You've won. You've won. And we're not fighting for victory, we're fighting from victory. That's why whenever you hear these spiritual warfare techniques and spiritual warfare things you're supposed to do, which kind of get the idea, oh, Satan has the dominion, and you want to get him out of there and bind and rebuke him. No. Christ has won. Become what you are. Live in that victory. You have overcome him. So take up the whole armor of God. Enter into the victory that's already ours. That's why Paul ends Romans, he says, the God of peace will shortly crush Satan beneath your feet. And you say, is this just true of the young men? No, it's true of all of us, whether we're just starting, whether we've been in the faith for many years. All believers have the word of God within us. All believers have defeated Satan. All believers are strong in him. But those who are emerging out of infancy spiritually, especially start to notice the battle, they think of their weapons, they notice their God-given strength. And so listen, if you're a younger Christian, remember, you're not just forgiven, you're not just a son of the Father, but He's equipped you with strength, He's put the Word in you, He's defeated the enemy, so don't give up. Stand. I mean, there might be some sitting here today who are just this far away from throwing in the towel. You've said, I'm so tired of trying. I can't do this thing. This Christian life just keeps, I keep failing. And God says to you, you're strong. You're strong. So I don't feel strong. God says, become what you are. You say, I keep losing. God says, you've won. You have overcome him. become what you are, walk in by faith, access what is true of you. But let me give a word of caution as well. We notice that when youths become teenagers, they often become a little bit, what? Impatient. Impatient with their elders. Certain that their parents have just lost the plot and do not understand the world as it really is. I mean, have you ever noticed your knowledge, those of you who pass this age, your knowledge kind of peaks at about 18, and then you know everything, and then you kind of plateau, you're 21 and you still know everything, and then it kind of starts to dip a little bit. Around about 24, you realize your parents knew a little bit. And around about 28, you realize they knew quite a lot. When you're in your 30s, you realize, wow, they knew more than I do. And so youth can have that feeling that, you know, old people just don't know anything. And not only that, but the children, they're less than gentle with them. They try to scare or intimidate them. Hey, I bet you don't know this. And kind of shove things into their face with knowledge they've only recently learned. And so listen, in the same way in the church of God, when you reach the stage, you can become a bit impatient with other people. You start to become impatient with church leaders who just aren't moving fast enough. Why can't they get the program going? Aren't they interested in moving forward for the Lord? Impatient, a lack of zeal. You know, no one here is excited. And you can get impatient with the body. And you can even get yourself into controversies. And not only that, but you find the baby Christians and you say, oh, you don't know about all the fights going on in Christianity? Let me tell you. And by the time you're finished, that new Christian walks out there with this lambasted look of like, wow, there's all this stuff going on. And you feel kind of, yeah, now they've wisened up to what's really out there. Hey, be careful. Be careful. Yes, young man, you're strong. You're flexing your muscles. You're sinking your teeth into the doctrine. You're starting to get a feel for what's really happening. Be patient with the little children, and respect the fathers, because they've been through those battles. They've fought them already. What you're just discovering, they've learned. They've been there. So respect them. Give them your patience, and give the little children your respect as you let them grow up into things just like you grew up into them. So, the strong ones, keep feeding. But you know what? Let me encourage you. Serve. Paul tells Titus that young men are to be sober-minded. And you know where you get that serious kind of mind? When you give yourself to service. A group of energetic Christians with their heads filled with notions and no humility to wash each other's feet is going to be one big sparring match. It's going to be a big goat herd. young goats butting heads all the time. You reach the stage, hey, start to serve, serve. The family of God's a beautiful thing, isn't it? But it takes care for one another. Let's see the third group, the message to the fathers, 1 John 2. 1 John 2. And verse 13, it's a message to the little ones. You're saved and your son's the message to the young ones. You're strong and you're standing. What's the message to the fathers? Look at verse 13. I write to you fathers because you've known him who's from the beginning. Beginning of verse 14. I've written to you fathers because you've known him who's from the beginning. He has the message to the fathers, you're settled and you're satisfied. You're settled and you're satisfied. Who are the fathers? Fathers are Christians who've passed through these stages themselves, the infant stage, they've passed through the young man stage. Now they're in a place to be spiritual leaders. They're in a place to beget others, so to speak, to nurture others. See, at the infant stage, more than anything, what are you doing? You're feeding, you're taking in. At the young man stage, you're beginning to exercise, use spiritual responsibility and serve. But at the father stage, it's time to be a spiritual parent to others. Here you've got to nurture the little children and admonish them. You've got to temper the young men where necessary. Sometimes you've got to spar with them, correct their imbalances, wrestle with them, point them in the right direction, harness their energy. Does it sound exhausting? It is. It's exhausting in the physical realm. It's exhausting to be a spiritual parent as well. What does John say of these fathers? What does he say? Perhaps the greatest thing of all. He says, you know Him who is from the beginning. Now, who's that? Jesus Christ. Look at 1 verse 1. That which was from the beginning, which we've heard, which we've seen with our eyes, which we've looked upon, our hands have handled concerning the word of life. Jesus Christ. Fathers, you've come to know Jesus Christ. Again, perfect tense. You've known Him at a particular point. It's a completed action, and it's still with you. You say, oh, don't the little children know Him? No, they do. Don't the young men know Him? No, they do. But the fathers have reached a stage of deep intimacy with Jesus Christ. This is the knowledge by experience. This is walking with Him, living with Him, obeying Him, serving, going through suffering, and in so doing, proving He's a faithful Savior. He's a good Lord. So whereas the little child knows God as Father, As we progress, we come to a deep and rich love for our Captain, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our faith ought to become more and more Christ-centered. I think to me the example that I always think of when I think of what this looks like is in Genesis. Will you turn there for a moment? Genesis chapter 5. Genesis 5 and verse 21 says, Enoch lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. What does that mean, he was not? It means God chose to take him to his own presence without Enoch dying. Enoch was raptured. Enoch was resurrected without going through the process of death. Why would God have done that? I think the answer is that Enoch walked with God. Enoch had such a close, abiding relationship where Christ was his friend, Christ was his Lord and his captain. He kept pace with Jesus. He was in fellowship with Jesus. He was speaking with Jesus. He was listening to Jesus. Can two walk together except they be agreed? He was agreed with Jesus. He was submitted to Jesus. And eventually, so deep was that relationship, so deep and abiding was that fellowship. that eventually God, as it were, said, you just belong up here. Why bother going any further? You belong here. Enoch walked with God. Isn't that an illustration of the Father's, you have come to know Him who is from the beginning? You say, have we reached that? No, but isn't that our goal? Paul, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings. Paul said he was willing to count all things but loss for the excellency of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord. So fathers, as you walk through that stage, you've been through the stage of feeding, you've been through the stage of getting strong and fighting the battles, and now your richest, deepest occupation is to put your roots down and to know Christ. The prayer in Ephesians 3 sums that up, isn't it? When you're strengthened by the Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ dwells in your heart by faith, and then you begin to know that four-dimensional love, you know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. What a blessing, what a joy to reach that. Well, just like little children have the danger of remaining infantile, young men have the danger of being destructive. What would the danger that fathers face, what would that danger be? The danger that you can face if you reach a place of spiritual maturity is that you become a complacent man or woman who just wants to be served more than anything else. You face the danger of becoming a critical spectator, the proverbial grumpy old man who just scoffs at all efforts, mocks at mistakes, criticizes everything, sits on the sidelines with arms folded. Be careful. As you walk in the Christian life, as you grow, you keep that heart of nurturing the little ones, learning and teaching sobriety and temperance to the young men. You see, certainly the world might force you to retire from your job at 65, but there's no retirement for believers. I've never heard of such a thing, that believers retire. I've seen it. I've never seen it in scripture. You are never redundant as a Christian. And by the way, and the way you avoid becoming a crusty old man is by nurturing little children, training the young men. What a delight to see those who are advanced in age still with all that wisdom now continuing to pour their lives into the young. All of these things are true of all believers. Every believer can say, my sins have been forgiven. I have God as father. I am strong. The word of God abides in me. I've defeated the evil one. I've come to know Jesus Christ. But at different stages in your Christian life, some of those truths will seem more strong to you. You'll be more aware of them than at other times. But they're all true of you if you're a believer. So this morning I want to leave you with John's heart. Don't be discouraged. These are your resources. Don't be discouraged. We don't reach maturity in a day. Feed, grow, serve, and ultimately lead.