The unity of God's family is established through the forgiveness of sins, a foundational characteristic for all believers. The sermon categorizes believers into three stages of spiritual development: fathers who have known Christ from the beginning, young men who are strong and have overcome the wicked one, and little children who are susceptible to false teachings. It emphasizes the importance of spiritual growth, the abiding power of God's word, and reliance on the Holy Spirit as a guide to prevent straying from the truth and to remain in fellowship with the Son and the Father.
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We turn tonight to the first epistle of John, please. The first epistle of John chapter two. We've had the joy of looking into the gospel of John in the past two nights and considering the great truth of God the Father and the revelation of that blessed Father through God, the beloved Son. We have also noted how God the Father obtains this family. Tonight we turn to the epistle, that is a family epistle, written by the Spirit of God through the same servant that wrote the Gospel, John.
Begin reading with me tonight in verse twelve, please. I'd like to read through verse twenty-eight. I write unto you children, I'm omitting the word little, which is omitted in the original text. I write unto you, children, because your sins are forgiven you for it may be saved. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young man, because ye have overcome the wicked ones. I write unto you, little children, And on this occasion the word little is correct.
I write unto you little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, Father, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father that is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. But we but doeth the will of God abide us forever. Little children, it is the last time. And as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrist, whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not others. For if they had been others, they would no doubt have continued with us. but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
But ye have an option from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he the denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist, but denies the Father and the Son. Whosoever denies the Son, the same hath not the Father, but even acknowledges the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you which he hath heard from the beginning. If that which he hath heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue In the Son and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he has promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which he had received of him abideth in you. And ye need not that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him, and his coming.
May God bless the reading, and by the Spirit give help and blessing to the ministry of his precious words. We have noted two particular facts concerning the coming of the beloved Son of God into this world, to bring, first of all, the revelation of his Father. For as the Lord Jesus said, No man knoweth the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. As we have noted from the Gospel of John, The purpose of the Son of God coming into this world was not only to reveal his own glory, which he did, but to also reveal the Father.
The revelation of the Father with all that is involved in the Father's person, the Father's bosom, the Father's love could never be revealed to mankind without the coming of the Son. We rejoice to be living in the Christian age when we have the full blaze of divine revelation, when the heart of God has been revealed through the coming into this scene by his words, by his works, and by the consummation of his death upon the cross, the Son has fully revealed the Father.
It is an absolute impossibility for any person to declare that they can never know God as Father, and to suggest that He has never been revealed as such. For in the glory of the Son, and in the person of the Son on this earth, from the manger to its death upon the cross, the Father has been revealed. One of the unique facts concerning the Gospel of John, as many of you may have noted, is when you read it through and not only behold the glory of the Son of God and the glory of the only begotten of the Father, but you will also note, if you count carefully, one hundred and twenty occasions the Father is mentioned.
For the obvious purpose of the Son, manifesting his glory in the whole gospel and through his life was to reveal in fullness and exhibit in perfection the heart of his Father God. We rejoice that would to God we could fathom deeper and enter more fully into that revelation that has unfolded the heart of God. But the Lord Jesus came not only to reveal the heart of his Father, He came also to gather the children that would consist of the family to belong to his father.
And we acknowledge, as we saw last night, that for the purpose of gathering together the children of God, who scattered throughout the generations of this age, throughout the countries of this world, the Spirit of God would bring them Through that blessed one who was redeemed then, to be brought into the family of God and to the Father. He came not only to bring the Father to our revelation, but he came also to gather the children and to obtain them for his Father. Thanks be to God. He not only redeems the Father on one hand, but he reaches out by his hand of grace and power to rescue a poor believing sinner.
and through faith in himself and his redeeming work, bring that sinner into the family of God. For as many have received him, as we saw, to then give him the right, the privilege, the authority to be called the sons of the children of God, even to them that believe on his name. And beloved, it is a wonderful joy to the heart of the Father when another one is born into the family. May I incidentally, and not just by incident, but pertinently, if I may be speaking before one soul who knows not to save him, and you may not have Christ, you may not be a child of God, may I say, God desires that you become his child, Christ the beloved has died to save you, and you have the opportunity, if you will, of becoming a child of God and a member of the family.
Now when you turn to the epistle of John as we have done tonight and shall perhaps tomorrow night too, we look not just at the Father, we look at the Father's family. For John writes the epistle to the family. The whole letter is addressed to the family of God. And in the context of what we have read tonight, the words of John are addressed to the family and all the family. But when you note with me carefully the opening words of his address in verse twelve. For when John begins to speak, he speaks first of all of one thing that classifies the whole family. He says in verse twelve, I write unto you children and let me restate the word little is not in the original text.
It should be omitted. For John is looking by the Spirit at all the family. I write unto you children, because your sins are forgiven you for renaming me. Now may I emphasize what God the Spirit emphasizes here? A truth that indicates one of the most precious facts regarding the family. And that is the unity of the family. the unity of the family of God. A characteristic that belongs to everyone in the family and that acknowledges they belong to the family and they are the children of God.
Here perhaps you may ask the question in your heart and mind tonight. Am I in the family of God? I perhaps am not sure that I am. Then may I point out to you with definite assurance how you may know that you're in the family. For the one prevailing characteristic that John acknowledges belongs to everyone in the family is this fact. They have received the forgiveness of their sins. Your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. And may I say faithfully, if your sins are not forgiven, you're not in the family.
And on the other hand, if your sins are forgiven, they are in the family. May I quote the words of Paul as he wrote them, as he declared, the predestination of the believer and the foreordained counsel of God that in eternal ages passed. He determined that he should have a family and that family should be brought before him wholly and without blame in love. Then John goes on, Paul rather goes on to state how they came into the family saying that through the beloved they have been accepted in the beloved in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of his grace by his precious blood now let me repeat those words carefully the seventh verse of that chapter particularly Ephesians one in whom that is the beloved son in whom we have redemption Through his blood the forgiveness of sin according
to the riches of his race. There is only one way for you and me to get into the family. Our sins must be forgiven. And on the ground of acceptance through Christ the beloved can we be brought into the family of God. Now may I point out to you where you will find your redemption. The redemption of your soul must only be found in a person. That person, the beloved, in whom we have redemption. You cannot get into the family of God or parts of the Son, for in Him and in Him alone you can find your redemption, your deliverance from the penalty your deliverance from the bondage and the power of sin that is over you.
And why is redemption found in him? For you have the power of that redemption through his blood. In whom we have redemption through his blood. What can wash away my stain? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fountain, I know nothing but the blood of Jesus. My beloved sinner friend, the power of redemption is in the blood of Christ.
For the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. And then if you trust that Savior and His precious blood, you will have the proof of your redemption. You say, what is that? The forgiveness of sin. The forgiveness of sin. For the word forgiveness translated from one Greek word into two English words, either remission or forgiveness, is the same. And the forgiveness of sin, what is that? Well, it means to lose something. And I know nothing better to lose than to lose your sins.
And have them taken away. May I give you very briefly and pointedly what God does when he forgives sins? Let me quote the words that are written in Psalm one hundred and three, verse twelve. As far as the east is removed from the west, So far has he removed our transgressions from us. For when God forgives the sins of one who trusts his son, he puts those sins out of reach. What a God. You'll never be able to do it, but he can through the blood of his dear son.
When God forgives sins, he not only puts them out of reach, Michael chapter seven and verse nineteen declares, Their sins will I cast into the depths of the sea. And what is going to recognize? When God forgives things, He puts them into the depths of the sea figuratively. I don't know how deep the sea is, but I recall reading, shortly following World War II, an amazing find by the United States Navy. that west of the Philippine Islands they came across a deep trench and there a deep body of water that was explored after the war and was found to be a six to seven miles deep and they said it would take a penny forty eight hours to get to the bottom well I'm not going after that penny and not even a lot of other pennies but to recognize the figurative language that God uses I will cast their sins into the depths of the sea.
But you know there's something better than that. In Jeremiah thirty-one, thirty-four, Hebrews ten, seventeen, we quoted, God says their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Not only out of sight, not only out of reach, but out of mind. When God forgives, he forgets. which is so much better than we can do. What a God. My beloved, listen, you may be anxious. I hope you are. If you're not in the family, I hope you're anxious to be in the family. Here's the way. In Christ we have redemption.
And it's in His person. The power of it is through its blood. The truth of it will be when you take Him as your Savior. and confessing and receiving. You'll have the forgiveness of sin. Jesus said to a man in Matthew nine two, Son be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. And if there's a happy person that should be a happy person, it's the one who sins are forgiven. I hope you're one of them. And if you're not, you can be. and to think of the plenitude of God's grace, according to the riches of His grace, the unmerited favor you do not deserve it, and neither do I, you can be saved.
And the moment you are, you're in the family. You're in the family. For notice twelve verse of our chapter. The character mystic of every member of the family, they possess the possessions of sin being forgiven. And you know, may I say, they have it now. Praise the Lord. A present progression, as well as of eternal duration, and righteously maintained for them by the written Savior at the right hand of God, our great high priest, our great advocate, our great living intercessor.
Oh, beloved me, I ask the question plainly, are you in the family of God? Do you have your sins forgiven? But John looks at the whole family and says, I write unto you children because your sins were forgiven you for his name's sake. Hallelujah. To think that God would forgive our sins for the sake of his beloved son. Oh, what a salvation. With me, I add, and it's so lovely to talk about getting children, it's so wonderful to have children. But you know it becomes another problem to raise children, which some of us might know.
And likewise, that seems to be the case with God, the father of his own family. He has a lot of difficulty with his own children. Believe it or not. And if he writes to them in this portion, God does something that no other could do, and he does something that no other should do, perhaps I rather should say, God divides his family. And in the scripture we have read, he classifies the family belonging to him in three divisions.
Now, as long as I can read the word of God, no other is alright to divide God's children. But some take the prerogatives, unfortunately. But the family is one. And to the heart of the father, they are one. They are with children. Why are they with children? He has redeemed them. He has forgiven them. to its son they've been brought into the family. The family is one. And my beloved brother and sister, I earnestly plead that in your affection and in your practical dealing with the children of God, you may ever remember the family is one and every child to the father's heart is as precious as the other.
But then, very similarly, as in an earthly family, you have different grades of growth. You have older children and younger children, and you have family grades of growing up. Likewise does God in his family. The Father recognizes, and John specifies particularly, there are three grades of development in the family of God. Look them in verse thirteen. He mentions the three of them. I write unto you fathers, because you've known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.
I write unto you little children, because ye have known the father. Now here you find the three grains of development and growth in the family of God. God's children have to grow. Peter said, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. And as God watches his children, he notices their spiritual development and growth. Some of them come to lose the maturity of being called fathers. Others go on developing and are classified as young men, so typical of their strength and their power.
Others are little children. In the infant classes it was of the family life. And these are the three classifications of the human family. And the three divisions of God's family as he classifies them. based upon their spiritual development and their growth. But now look with me as you go to verse fourteen. The first classification, let's look at the family and see first of all those whom he classifies as fathers. And you will note in verse fourteen he only repeats what he has stated in verse thirteen about the fathers. I have written unto you fathers because ye have known him, that is, from the beginning.
Now may I again repeat with emphasis, the expression father specifies spiritual attainment only. Not necessarily physical years. Though spiritual attainment may define chiefly among elderly believers. But then on the other hand, many elderly believers may still be vague in Christ when they should have developed into being fathers. But the classification specifies spiritual attainment only.
And the special characteristic of the fathers is declared, ye have known him. That is, from the beginning. Who's him? Beloved, the one to whom the apostle refers is none other than the son. As you may find from the very opening of the epistle in chapter one, verse one through verse three. He that was from the beginning, that blessed son of God, ye have known him. And may I point out that the word known, as it is written here, is in the perfect tense, indicating that the stench produced continually.
And they have gone on faithfully, growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Just very briefly suggest, and it will suffice, This is the attainment of spiritual development where the believer has gone on knowing more of the Lord Jesus and continuing in that path to the place of spiritual maturity in the family of God. Oh, beloved, this is the ideal. This is the ideal for every believer.
And that's to recognize These are those who have found constant delight in that blessed Christ whom they have found in himself, in what he is, in all of his moral beauty, in all of his moral perfection, in more of his moral excellencies, and they have been occupied wholly with Christ. As we say tonight, they have proved more about Jesus would I know. Oh, beloved, you'll never exalt.
From this book you will never exalt all you may know of Christ. Never. We must never be going on, day by day, in fellowship with him and his words by the Spirit and faithfully continue from the time we have found them and go on knowing them and continuing in the knowledge of Christ. Let me quote Peter's words at the end of his second epistle as he wrote them in chapter three verse eighteen. But growing grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Oh beloved, may I point out something? From what we've already studied, Those that go on to know more about the Son, they learn more about the Father. By the same measure, being occupied with Christ, they know more about the Father, for the Father is displayed in Christ. Beloved, may I put before you briefly. This is the ideal goal. if you're in the family of God. This is the objective that you and I should be aiming at.
Don't be satisfied just to have your sins forgiven. That's precious. That ought to make you happy and should and will even through eternity. I remember when I was a boy named him as a lamb, never will I forget a solemn lesson that came to my attention in my early days. Perhaps I wasn't more than eight or nine. But as children do, sometimes we varied our method, a way of going to school. And occasionally there was a certain path that we took toward school that took us by a home where sometimes we would see sitting in a high chair in front of the home, whether permitting, a young child.
The child looked no more to be than ten or twelve months of age, sitting in a high chair. That child was twenty-one years of age. Some physical malfunction hindered the development and growth of that young child. Borders of age, yet never matured more than the size as well as the mentality of an infant. My beloved, just let me state carefully and carefully let you and I realize the spiritual responsibility if we are the children of God to grow.
Feeding upon the Word of God, feeding upon the Christ of God, occupied with himself, and seeing his glory in the book, and going on to the maturity of Father. which indicates spiritual development and spiritual attainment. Not the second classification. Now you can see the grave. From maturity we come down in verse fourteen verse. John says in the center of it, I've written unto you young men, because ye are strong, the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
Now there's another classification. There are three particular characteristics describing the young man. The young men we know usually pride themselves by nature for their strength. And John refers to the spiritual strength of those that are termed young men. There are three characteristics of them. Note what he says. First, ye have overcome the wicked, or first of all, ye are strong. They possess spiritual strength. Thank God for that. One certainly rejoices to see young men with spiritual strength. One of the ambitions, the natural ambitions of a young man, it was my own, was to be physically strong.
I was puny, I was skinny. They called me skinny. And I determined I'd get away from it. And so being such a wise boy as I thought I was, I bought the heaviest dumbbells that I could carry home. Jumbbell as I was? In order to develop strength. Well, that was the physical ambition. My beloved, far greater in importance than this family, is for a believer to develop spiritual strength. Paul writing to Timothy said, Be strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And how necessary does not be developed and possessed? Spiritual strength. Can I add just a word of entreaty? We're not young people here at large. Mostly in the older class. But would to God that our young people recognize the importance of spiritual strength, the necessity of being spiritually strong? Solomon told today, the second characteristic of these young men, which was the source of their strength, the word of God dwelt in their hearts, Because he has shrunk and the word of God abided in you.
Oh, beloved, this was the thought of their strength. The abiding of the word of God in their heart? Well, did the psalmist say, Thy word of I have in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Jeremiah said, Thy words were found, and I did eat them. And they were to me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by thy name. Daniel said, if he spoke of the angel, who came to him with the divine message, when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened. And oh, beloved, the secret of a believer's strength is the partaking, the eating, the massacring.
And the seeking of the word of God into his and her soul, his and her life, you are strong through the word of God which abides in you. You know, it's a joy to realize he wants the word in us. And then you know, the result is this, the result of the strength. They were victorious over the wicked ones. Ye have overcome the wicked ones. even Satan. And thank God for the young men. But then you will note, John writes very little to the fathers.
He writes somewhat more to the young men. And he writes much more to the little children. But to the young men he points out an ever-present danger in verse fifteen. sixteen and seventeen. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust is afresh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away of the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideeth forever.
Now may I point out the dangers very carefully. First of all, let me begin by noting with you at the end of verse fifteen. It is possible for the young believer to lose or for any believer to lose the affection of the Father. Oh, don't let me say that the Father will never love his child. Look at what John says. Note the word carefully all the way through. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Now let's be very careful and let's be very sure that what is indicated, the heart of this believer cannot be placed in its enjoyment and with its affection upon the world and at the same time be in the enjoyment of the love of the Father.
They don't go together. Love not the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. I think we all remember in our family experiences of occasions when we were young particularly, when there was a coldness between the parent and the child. And the love of the parent was not able to be poured upon the child. Why? Usually because of the disobedience of the child. There's been occasions. I never forget one day when I hit a baseball right through the front window, I went around three, four blocks before I came home and looked at my dad.
I didn't know what he was going to do. There was a brief. Be in love with love. The danger is putting the affection upon the world. Not only the world, but the things that are in it. Note those two distinctions. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. The world is that system of things under Satan, who's the God of this age, the Prince of this world, the one in whom it lies. The world lies in the hands of the wicked one. John writes in the fifth chapter of this book. And the believer, please may I remind you, the world crucified your Savior and mine.
Paul says, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ my Lord, by whom the world is crucified underneath and I under the world. And my beloved, may I say this, look, this world is no different than what it was in Calvary. This world is stated what it would do and have done with the Son of God and would do again if he were here. James very, very, very severely reprimanded the believing in his epistle, who is a spiritual adulterer by seeking the world, and not the things we should regard.
Or longer we may realize, this was the danger for the young men to love the world. And then John particularly states what the world consists of, two things mainly, lust and pride. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and then the pride of life. Lust, wanting what we have now, and then when we have it, proud that we possess it. That's the world. But said Job, that world is passing. The world passes away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abides forever. Oh, I remember a dear old brother to whom I fed years ago in my youth, perhaps in my early married day, I said to go on then seeking to go on for the Lord and with the Lord.
And to this dear old brother in Christ who knew the word of God so blessedly. I said, Brother, I wish I knew my Bible like you know it. And do you know what he said to me? He said, Johnny, you can if you pay the price. You can if you pay the price. Like one Christian has said, you may have heard the quotation, to another, I give the world if I knew my Bible as you do. And the other said, that's just what I gave. Beloved, let's be sensible.
May I point out, and I do not say this in a disparaging spirit, But one of the great reasons that the believers of today do not know their Bible is because of the world that has snared them with its responsibility and even its pleasure. I tell you frankly, I believe with all earnestness that if I turn to the world for my satisfaction, I will lose my grip on spiritual things. You can't have both.
You can't have both. That was the danger. And John reminds them of that danger, and he was just dead. Oh, may we indeed let the Word of God abide in our hearts. Well, you know, the wise man wrote in the Proverbs, buy the truth, sell it now. Well, you know, the devil's ready to bid for it any day. And believe you, me, he's got his bids in already. And he's taken away from many the truth of God. Now that brings us to the last category, the classification of little children. And may I point out briefly that when it comes to the little children, John writes particularly of the greatest danger that faces the youngest believers in the family.
And that danger is so prevailing today. Here is the danger of false teaching. Go down with me to verse twenty-six. You have the crux of it there. The whole crux of the section mentions. Beginning with verse eighteen, and going down through verse twenty-seven, he ministers to the little children. And the purpose of this ministry is in verse twenty-six. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. And the greatest danger to young children, to the little children in the family of God, is the seduction of false teachings.
The young men, they're strong. The word of God is in them. The fathers are matured. The little children are in greater danger, for the abundance of false teaching may surround them. Now in the closing moment and their briefs, many point out what John tells the little children in seeking to find their source of help and safety. For the development of all, may I mention this in passing, you can read the context yourself, and you will have noted, the development of all false teaching will culminate in the coming of the antichrist.
There are many antichrists, John said, but the continuation of these many false trites the continuation of all false teaching will someday culminate in the appearance of big antichrist. And, beloved, we must be near that time. For there is more false teaching than any other kind in the world today, unfortunately. But look very briefly, the sources of faith that John suggest. Verse twenty. And he says to the children, This is the fact that belongs to you.
You have an option from the Holy One, and you know all things. What's he mean? They possess the Holy Spirit of God. Thank God that every believer, no matter how young, is possessed by the Spirit of God. They have a divine teacher. Go down with me to verse twenty-seven, please. Look at verse twenty-seven. the anointing which you have received of him, abideth in you, and yet ye not that any man hates you. Now what John is emphasizing is this, you have the presence and the person of the Holy Spirit. He is your teacher.
And he's not relegating out the ministry of teaching in the Church of God. But he is bringing to the little children one means of safety, the presence of the Holy Spirit. Listen to his voice. Follow his words. For to us we have not received the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that he may know the things that are freely given to us of God. And may I encourage every believer, no matter how young you're the Lord, you've got the same teacher I have, the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. Praise His name.
You need not go astray. Let the Holy Spirit be your guide and the redeemer of the truth of God. Note the second source of faith. Look in verse twenty-one. I have not written unto you because you know the truth, because you know not the truth rather, but because you know it. And that no lie is of the truth. Now here's another basis of faith there. The truth you do know, don't ever give it up for a lie. For if you listen to false teachings and follow their teachings, you're going to give up the truth that God gave you. And one of the same ways of thus presenting such a catastrophe is to hold on to the truth that you have.
And don't give it up. The truth, you know, blessed be God, for the purpose of false teachers and the purpose of the devil through them is to take away the truth from God's dear children. What you do know, don't make a mistake. are investigating erroneous teachings when you're just a little child in the family of God. And then a third thing, verse twenty-four. Let that therefore abide in you which he had heard from the beginning. And if you keep what God has given you through his words, by his spirit, which you do know, if that which he had heard from the beginning shall abide or remain in you ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father.
Oh, what a measure of faith in him. Hope you love it, listen. Little children. One of the saddest things that takes place in Christian experience is to see young believers going astray from the truth of God. And the word of God, if John likes to the family, would indicate those agents of the false teachings and the method of sanctity that they might follow, the Holy Spirit who is within them, the anointing, the truth of God that they have, and that which they have learned, abide in it.
And as you abide in the truth, you know, you continue in the Son. and you're continuing the Father. How long... You know, God's got a big family. We give him an awful lot of trouble, I know. But what's the God that we followed what he said? I never forget when God came in a mighty way in my little experience in my early days and saved so many precious souls in a certain region of New York State. And I had the joy of seeing many souls come to the Lord. And the joy was great for them as well as for me. But I want to tell you how I had a lot of difficulty when I started trying to teach them the word of God.
They had so much to unlearn. And I had great difficulty. And I found it was a lot easier to have babies than to bring them up. Gone likewise. But oh, what a father we have. And what joy to realize. He's made provision to commend those who go on to spiritual attainment as fathers, to encourage those who are coming along as young men, and to guide and counsel and encourage the little children to go on in the Son and in the Father. Praise the Lord. If we'd only listen to our Father, we'd all get along much better.
Shall we pray? Oh, blessed Father, we thank thee for thy word. We thank thee for thyself. We thank thee for thy son. We thank thee for thy family. We unite our hearts tonight to thank thee that the family is one. Wherever there is a born-again soul, wherever a blood-bought, redeemed child of thine, therein the family, And what is true of one is true of all, their sins have been forgiven. Now, Father, we would be concerned about our family growth.
We pray tonight the Holy Spirit will speak to each of us. Where are we? Little children, young men, or fathers? And then, Father, we think of that one, or if there are more, who may not be in the family. Lord, we want them in. And I just desire them to come in. Tonight we pray. May that soul turn their hearts right now. Convicted and convinced. The Father loves them. Christ has loved and died for them.
And the Father's waiting to receive them. May they come with the Son and through the Son. For Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the light. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. May some precious soul be added into the family. We'd like to hear the cry of a newborn baby. May it be tonight. For we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of our Father gone, the fellowship or the conviction of the Holy Spirit be upon us.