SERIES: The Letters of John
TEXT: 1 John 2:12–17
MESSAGE: “The Good Shepherd and the Bummer Lamb”
The Bummer Lamb: Rejected by its mother; hopeless without the shepherd’s intervention.
I. Our Former Identity: Bummer Lambs (vv. 12, 14)
“12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name’s sake.” “14 I write to you, children, because you know the Father.”
“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” — 1 Peter 2:2
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it.” — 1 Corinthians 3:1-2
“for your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great” — Psalm 25:11
“We have been saved from sins penalty in the past, one day we’re going to be saved from sins presence in heaven but in the present tense we are being saved from sins power” — Alistair Begg
“I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for my need.” — Spurgeon
II. Our Present Calling: Grow in Relationship and Victory (vv. 13–14)
“13 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.” “14 I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning.”
“32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” — Acts 20:32
“14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” — Hebrews 5:14
III. Our Ongoing Battle: Guard Your Heart from the World (vv. 15–17)
15 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. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
“No created thing is wrong or bad in itself, but it is our use of things that defiles us.” — 1 Timothy 4
“Worldliness is whatever makes sin look normal and righteousness strange.” — David Wells
“The best antidote to the love of the world is a lively sense of the love of Christ.” — Spurgeon
IV. The Gospel Climax: The Spotless Lamb Took Our Place (Isaiah 53, Hebrews 9)
“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:5
“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” — Hebrews 9:14
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” — 2 Corinthians 5:17
“Do you worship a set of truths that make up what you consider to be the gospel, or do you worship Jesus, the person about whom those truths speak? It may appear to be splitting hairs at first, but it is a distinction you cannot miss. One is a journey to life; the other is a cold and ominous path to death. Bring people to Jesus, not precepts about Jesus. Communicate Jesus the person rather than a set of statements as if you are convincing people to change their views on politics. He is the Messiah whom the Old Testament anticipated and whom the New Testament celebrated. If we are going to offer good news, rather than simply winning sacred arguments or changing people’s moral positions, we must bring people to the ultimate good news: the person of Jesus Christ.” — Jeff Christopherson said in his book Kingdom First