We are reading together in the prophecy of Daniel. Daniel chapter 10. We want to read the opening section of this prophecy. We are reading this this evening for illustrative purposes. Daniel was taken into Babylon when he was a young man. He was trained as a civil servant for the government of the nation, the empire. And in God's providence and wisdom and goodness, Daniel was there one administration after another, after another. And by the time we come to the closing chapters of Daniel, he's got to be a man in his 80s or more, bearing in mind that he sees the end of the captivity about to happen. So that was 70 years plus, let's say 14 years. You're talking about a man in his mid 80s. whom God has used mightily. We want to read this by way of illustration of here is a seasoned believer. Daniel chapter 10. In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel who was named Belteshazzar. The word was true and it was a great conflict. And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision. In those days, I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all for the full three weeks. On the 24th day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river that is the Tigris, I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen with a belt of fine gold from Euphrates round his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, His arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision. For the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I was left alone. and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground. And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling, on my hands and knees. And he said to me, O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright. For now I have been sent to you. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia. and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision is for days yet to come. When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face towards the ground and was mute. And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth, and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, O my Lord, by reason of the vision, pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength. How can my Lord's servant talk with my Lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me. Again one having the appearance of a man touched me, strengthened me and he said, O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you, be strong and of good courage. And as he spoke to me I was strengthened and said, Let my Lord speak for you have strengthened me. Then he said, Do you know why I've come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia. And when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. There is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince. Amen. Well let's turn to 1 John and we want to read a section from 1 John chapter 2. So let us hear the word of God. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 1. My little children I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word in him truly, the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him. Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment. but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother and abides in the light and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I am writing to you little children because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I am writing to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you children because you know the father. I write to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you. and you have overcome the evil one. Amen. Well, let's turn to 1 John for another study in this wonderful, wonderful letter. 1 John chapter 1 and verses 12 through to 14. is the section that we want to look at this evening. And the title that I want to give to this study this evening is, Meet the Church Family. Meet the Church Family. I've had the privilege on several occasions of attending a church conference in New Jersey. And after registration on the Saturday afternoon, you leave the church building to travel to your host's home. And on arrival, the person who has driven you there will say something like, meet Alan and Patricia and their family of three, ranging from Josh, who's 22, to Eleanor, who is four. and Alan and Patricia have been part of our congregation for 15 years, or something like that. Well, in 1 John 1, verses 12 to 14, we meet the church family at Ephesus and in other places across Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. John does not give us a membership role. He doesn't name names. Rather he speaks in terms of three groups that can be found in the congregation. He speaks according to the spiritual maturity or the stage at which the believers are at spiritually. He speaks of little children and he speaks of young men and fathers. Now John, of course, is grouping people not according to their age in terms of how long they've been alive, but he's speaking to them in terms of their maturity in Christ. It is important to say also that John is not saying there are no females in this congregation. Rather, he is using these terms inclusively, male and female, little children, young men, and fathers. Each term is inclusive. He addresses each group twice. He says, I write to you, verse 12, verse 13a, and then he says from verse 13b, the middle of the verse, through to verse 14, I have written to you. And what he says to each group, each time is largely the same. We might well ask the question, Why does John repeat himself? And to answer that question we've only got to think about ourselves. When do we repeat ourselves? Well, we repeat ourselves when we don't know what to say next. Is that likely to be the problem here? Well, no. We can't concede that to be the problem, or the reason. Because John is being guided, indeed he is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. As he writes here, and the Holy Spirit of God has no difficulty in knowing what to say next to the church. There is another reason isn't there, why we repeat ourselves. And those of you who are teachers will identify with this. Those of you who are parents, grandparents even, you'll identify with this. We repeat ourselves when something is really important. And we want those to whom we're speaking, whether our children, our grandchildren, or a neighbour, or a friend, or whomever, we want them to remember and to take note And that's why John repeats what he's written before. He says, I'm not telling you anything new, but I'm telling you it again, because you need to be reminded of these things again. It's helpful. It's encouraging for you to be reminded of these things again, especially against the backdrop of what your congregation has been experiencing. So what does he say then? Who is he addressing? Well I believe he's addressing new believers when he speaks to the little children. I believe he's addressing maturing believers when he speaks to the young men and of course the young women included in that. And then when he speaks to seasoned believers, when he addresses those who are fathers or mothers within the congregation. So that's the direction we're going in this evening. We want to think first of all about what John has to say to new believers, little children, We saw this morning that this, in other places in the letter, is used as a term of affection for the whole congregation. And in fact some commentators will take that view of verse 12, that he is addressing the whole congregation. But I think given the wider context, it is helpful for us to think and to take it that John is speaking not to the whole congregation but now to a section within the congregation who spiritually are literally little children. Little children. Do you remember when you were a little child in the faith? Those were great days, weren't they? We didn't have a care in the world in those early days. over spiritual pilgrimage. Because we were like children in a family, newborn children with a mother and a father. They do everything for us and they carry us and they provide for us and there's a very real sense in which God does that for his little children in Christ. Those who are babes in the faith and John writes here, what is the substance of what the little child knows? Your sins have been forgiven. For his name's sake, that's for Christ's sake, on the basis of the life that Christ lived as a man that was without sin and on the basis of the death Christ died on the cross for the sins of his people. On that basis you have been forgiven. We can wind our minds back and go back to the time when that truth dawned on us. We may well have believed before that, especially if we'd been nurtured in a Christian home. But then at some point, it just all becomes real to us. And it just becomes, it gets right down into our hearts. And we just marvel at the fact that we are forgiven by God. We who are born in sin, We who are shaped by iniquity, we who don't have to be taught to do wrong. Recently a Christian teacher was being interviewed in England and it was in connection with an organization that he'd been involved in to help support Christians. And he was asked, what have you observed over the years that you've been teaching? He says, I've never had to teach a pupil to do wrong. It comes naturally. And he was simply reflecting there the theology of scripture. We don't have to teach our children to do wrong. It's natural to them. When they don't get their way, the tantrum, the tears, the throwing things around the place. It's not because I don't expect to see you as parents or grandparents flinging plates around the place or throwing your food on the floor. But that's what they will do. And you see, And we have been forgiven our sins for His namesake. That sin that is inherent to every single human being that is born of a man and a woman and their union. But how wonderful it is to know that our sins have been forgiven for His namesake. And there's a sense when you're the young Christian, that's all that matters. And you're as happy as the day is long. My sins are forgiven and I'm going to heaven. And then John puts it later when he writes, speaks to them again in verse 13, the last statement, because you have known the father. We're just thrilled with the concept that God is my Father. Because even when we've had the best of fathers, which many of us have been privileged to have, even they have fallen short. And to know that our Father in heaven is perfect, and he cares for us and he loves us and he carries us in his arms in those early days of our Christian lives when we couldn't care for ourselves. It's wonderful isn't it? It's wonderful when we've got little babies in the family, children, grandchildren. What adult doesn't love to see a baby? And when you see a baby with its parents and you maybe see them putting it from their car seat into their chariot, as I call the push chairs nowadays, or the prams or whatever, they're like little chariots. You say, what a beautiful baby. But fast forward 15 years time. And if you were in that same situation, and you saw the same parent bringing their child out of the car, and there was no development, we would be struggling, wouldn't we? Our hearts would go out to that situation. And we would be wanting to empathise and to say things that would encourage those parents, because something has gone wrong. And something is wrong that that little child is still a little child 10, 15 years on. And you see, it's equally sad when in the church of Christ, there are those who can look back and they can say, yes, 10, 15 years ago, maybe even longer, I came to that knowledge that my sins have been forgiven for Christ's sake and at that point I had a consciousness of God as my Father. But actually they are still acting like little babes. They need to be fed, spoon fed. They need to be carried. They need to be constantly reassured. I am not wanting to say for one moment that because of some people's backgrounds and experiences in life they can need a lot of encouragement. But we don't have any problem encouraging our children, do we, if we see them developing? We had the wonderful experience this afternoon of seeing Ruben take his first steps. and he's been going round the table and round the furniture for weeks and for months. This afternoon he took his first steps. You see there's a little child developing. And you know, brothers and sisters, do we have that same sense that in the kingdom of God, the little child, the new Christian is to grow, they're to be, yes, there's a time when they just love the milk and the milk's important. The milk's essential. You can't give a baby steak. You must give them milk. And we can't give new Christians meat, we need to give them milk. But there's something wrong if at five years of age or beyond, or even 18 months or beyond, we're still a child needing the bottle, needing the milk. And so John's writing here, and he's not putting in any criticism at all, nor am I, but I'm simply saying that being a little child means we don't stay a little child. We are to grow and get beyond that. And we have many examples in the scriptures of those who were little children and they were emphasizing the basic things. Think of the man who was born blind, John chapter 9. Do you remember the Pharisees wanted to examine him and question him about Jesus and who he was? And the man said, whether he is a sinner, I do not know, but one thing I know, that's a little child. That's the little child. But then, there's got to be the going on. And so, if you're a new believer this evening, we rejoice with you. We rejoice that your sins have been forgiven. But we want also this evening to encourage you and to challenge you that you don't be one who has to be carried from here to heaven. in the arms of other people, but that you learn to stand on your own feet, you learn to walk, you learn to bear weight and burden in the heat of the day. That's the first thing we want to see this evening. And if somebody has been a believer for years and they still are at that basic stage, then you need to ask yourself, why is that the case? Talk to your elder about it. They'll be only too glad to listen and to give you encouragement and to pray for you and to support you in your growing up. So that brings us then secondly this evening to maturing believers, maturing believers. And here we have the young men, as John calls them, and the young women as we want to emphasize as well. And what does John say to them? He says, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, young men, because you've overcome the wicked one. And then he says at the end of verse 14, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you. Get the picture here. Earnest, serious minded, strong young men and women in Christ. Making a mark where they are in life. Taking a stand in their place of work, in their family, in their community. Able to serve in a range of ways within the Church of Christ. And those basic disciplines and duties of the Christian life, they're solidly and securely led. So you go in a pastoral visitation, and you don't have to ask the question, are you reading your Bible every day? Are you praying? Rather, the question is, tell me about what you're reading. Tell me about the things that you're praying for so that we can pray for those with you. You see, they've got the foundations well and truly laid. And that's so important. And you think of young men in this situation and they're beginning to show graces and gifts for leadership. It's not they're looking for office. or position, but as you see them in the church, after church services, or as they're coming into church, or going from church, you see them talking to people, and they're interested, and they're inquiring how that job interview went, how that matter that you talked about last week within the school of their children, how that has worked itself out What can I pray for? How can I help you? You see, that's the young men, spiritually. And there are the young women also. You see the grace of femininity in Christ, where their concern is not their outward adornment, Not that they are to be fusty in their looks and clothing and one thing or another. The Scriptures never say that. But they are more concerned about that inner beauty that comes from Christ. You see a gentleness. You see a willingness to lead under their husbands, their children. and family and to contribute to that. Or you see them giving themselves, if they're not married, you see them giving themselves to family saying, why don't you have a night out? I'll come and I'll look after your children. Or can I do this for you? Or can I help you with that? Or you'll see them showing interest and caring for the older men and women in the congregation. taking an interest in them and spending their energy and time in them because they have more opportunity to do that than the women who are mothers and wives. And so you are seeing young men, young women and they are not a soft touch for the devil. Not a soft touch. And they don't fall over. at the first evidence of temptation either arising from within their own hearts or temptation that's stimulated by the world around them. Because you've overcome the wicked one. You're strong. The Word of God dwells in you. You look at those young men and young women, you see lives shaped by the Word of God. and the Spirit of God developing the fruit of the Spirit. And you see them being tried and tested because this kind of development does not happen without the trials of life. Think of Joseph. He's my Old Testament male example, 17 years of age. and thrown or sent off to Egypt. We know the story of what happened there. Every time he seemed to be one step up, he was knocked off the ladder as it were. But the Lord was developing that man. So at 30 years of age, he was ready to be Prime Minister of that vast nation and part of her knew that he had a man, or Pharaoh knew that he had a man upon whom he could rely. Or think of Esther. There in the house of the king and Persia and all the challenges that she was facing. And you see this woman growing and developing as she navigates herself through all the evil that is caught up in that culture in that day. You see, here's a young man and here's a young woman and they're not blown around, as Paul says, like ships in a storm. They're not blown around by the heretic Serinthus. He's coming to the congregation. They're able to stand and they are able to discern They are what Paul talks about, men and women who have knowledge, but not just knowledge, they have wisdom, they have understanding. It is important of all three, knowledge, the Pharisees had loads of knowledge. It was all up here in their head. It never percolated down into the heart. And it's as knowledge taken by the Holy Spirit percolates down into our hearts that it becomes understanding. And then actually when we live it out, it's wisdom. It's wisdom. So, knowledge is understanding truth. But understanding is truth changing the heart. And wisdom is the life changed by that knowledge. So there's a likeness to Christ. And I want to say something as I close this second point to the young people here this evening. It's one of my little hobby horses. But I don't mention it very often from the pulpit. But it is something I do feel strongly about. It's the example of Joseph. 17 to 30. Those years are critical years in your life. I look back and I thank God I was converted by His grace at 14. He kept me through to 17, 18, 19, and he brought me then to Jordanstein, to a strong Christian union, and brought me onto the ministry of Ted Donley. Those were huge years in my life. 19 to 30. At just shy of 30 years of age, the Lord put me into the ministry in Kilratts and I look back and I'm so thankful to God. And so I want to appeal to you young men, young women, do not waste your years 17 to 30 on social media and all the other trivia of this world. that you don't have time through the church. And that's the thing that strikes me as well. When I look back, so much of my doctrine, so much of my Christian living was shaped by the church, by this congregation, by the older members, very few of whom are still left. But thank God for those speeches. And so when I talk to you young people about 17 to 30, I don't mean you taking yourself away off with the internet and you're googling this and that and you're reading all kinds of stuff that's there in the internet. I'm saying getting anchored in the church of Christ, professing your faith publicly, joining the church, being in the life and witness worship and service of the congregation, being shaped for leadership, wherever God called you to do that. And we are all leaders with the small l. So maturing believers, are we maturing believers? Rounded, well balanced, reliable, overcoming the flesh, overcoming the world, no longer that the world no longer terrorizes you as it once did. You're no longer easy prey for the devil. But then thirdly, this evening, we want to think about the seasoned believer. How beautiful this is. How beautiful it is. And John says, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. You've known Him who's from the beginning. What's the mark of the seasoned believer? What's the mark of the seasoned believer? It's knowing Christ and proving Christ in every walk of life. And it doesn't matter what the world throws at you. It doesn't matter what life throws at you. You come back to this fact. I am a man. I am a woman in Christ. I am righteous in Christ. I'm equipped in Christ for all that he calls me to be and to do and to endure. And you see, I think John puts it that simply here because they have been at the very heart of this whole heresy has been the person and work of Christ. Sorinthus was a very clever man, intelligent man. Sorinthus had heard the gospel and Sorinthus could have probably quoted some of the apostles in favor of what he said, and here's what he said. He said Jesus was born of Mary and Joseph. I don't think he could have found that anywhere in Scripture, but here's the next part he could have found. And then what happened was at his baptism, wasn't the spirit came down, it was the Christ came down upon this purely human individual born of Mary and Joseph. And the Christ working through Jesus enabled him to teach and to do all the things he did. But then here's what happened. It wasn't Jesus the Christ who died on the cross. It was only Jesus, the man, because the Christ left him again before the cross. And so you can see where that takes you. Takes you to a Christ who has not saved us, who hasn't lived a sinless life. If he was born of Mary and Joseph, their union, he was a sinner by nature and by deed. And if he did not die as a sinless man, then you and I have no sacrifice for our sins. And we have no righteousness before God. You see that's why I believe John says, because you have known him from the beginning. You have got to go back to the beginning of 1 John to find out the words from the beginning. It means from eternity. It is what the apostles taught. They taught that Jesus Christ is the Christ of eternity He was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God in the womb of Mary as Jesus and born of Mary at Nazareth. So that he was without sin. And so the gospel that we believe, the apostolic gospel. And John says, This is the Christ you have known. He's the Christ from the beginning. And in fact, he's the Christ that was preached from the beginning of the church in Ephesus. That's the Christ Paul preached. And you see, this is the mark of the seasoned believer. They can discern between truth and error. but also they're enabled to live through whatever life brings to them. And they say, Lord, not my will, but your will be done. And how beautiful it is in a congregation when we have men and women who are seasoned believers. That alongside the preaching, teaching of this congregation in the 80s was what drew me into the congregation. Those that have now gone ahead and their graciousness and their godliness and just they were stalwarts. And you see Daniel, that's why we read from Daniel. Because that's the kind of man Daniel is in his 80s now. Doesn't have to be connected necessarily with age, but there usually is a connection with age. And you see, those who are seasoned believers, what are they able to do? They're not only able to keep their focus on Christ and filter everything that happens to them through the lens of Christ working in them to make them like make them like himself, but also men and women who can truth with others in love. It is a Timothy at the end of Paul's ministry. This man who had so many things, he was a young man, just newly converted, Paul takes him under his wing, he spends years with Paul, he's a bad stomach, he's very hesitant, and there's various challenges that he has, and Paul prays for him, Paul teaches him, Paul nurtures him, and at the end of Paul's ministry, where does he send him? But to Ephesus, where already There were lots of problems. And he says, Timothy, I want you to stay there. You don't want to be here, but I'm asking you to be here in the name of the Lord to sort out some of the early issues that were causing difficulty in the trouble in Ephesus. And of course, ultimately it is our savior at the end of his ministry. We can trace the earthly life of our Savior. There was a time when he was a little child in terms of his faith towards his father. But as he went to the synagogue, as he was taught by Mary and Joseph, as he went up to the temple, what do we find? Luke chapter two, verse 52. that he was there debating with the leaders and then we read after that, he went home, he was obedient to Mary and Joseph and he increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. You see there's Christ, the teenager, maturing as a believer, ready at 30 to take up the priestly ministry. and to achieve that one thing that only He could achieve for us. And brethren, that's I think the way we should look at our lives. What is the one thing, Lord, you want me to achieve in my life? How do you want to use me? What's the vocation you've given me? And help me to give myself to that and to serve you in that like my savior, like Daniel, like Joseph, like Esther, like Timothy. Until I'm a seasoned believer, what we might call in the gardening world, the hardy annual, able to survive. the hardest of frosts. So, brethren, I speak to you this evening. If you are a little child, rejoice your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. But you need to go on to be the young man, the young woman who is overcoming the wicked one and who is strong and stable because of the word of God that abides in you. And then we ultimately are aiming to be the fathers in Christ. Seasoned believers, of whom others can say also, you have known him. And you see, this is the kind of believer where other members of the church, when they've got a problem, they'll go alongside this older believer, they'll say, can you give me some advice? Will you pray for me? Tell me how you coped with this kind of situation. And their influence is that sweet aroma for Christ. So brethren, Whatever stage we're at, let us pray, let us work towards being the seasoned believer in Christ, who have known him, who is from the beginning. Amen. Well, let's pray as we remain seated. Father, we do thank you for that great and glorious work of Christ, that work by which our sins are forgiven, and you have become our Father. But we know that is the beginning of the good work that you're doing in us, and so we're to move on to be young men, young women, And so we pray that you would help us. If that's the stage you're at, to withstand the evil one will not be an easy touch for him. And he will have to leave us alone because like our savior, we have learned how to repel him with the word and by the spirit in our hearts. Lord, thank you for those who are seasoned believers in our lives and in our congregations. Those, O Lord, who have gone ahead of us to heaven, those whose example and whose faith we are to follow, and what a challenge they are to us. Even though they are dead, they continue to speak to us. Thank you for the memory of them. Thank you for the memory of such men and women in this congregation. And oh Lord, we pray that as you take your older servants home, that you will raise up others to take their place so that we will have fathers and mothers in our congregations who are just the picture of godliness and stability and maturity because they have known Christ and they continue to know him. And they say with Paul, I want to know Christ. the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, and so somehow to become like him in his death, and so somehow to attain to the resurrection of the dead. Oh God, have mercy upon us and make us like Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen.