A SERMON TO THE LORD’S LITTLE CHILDREN – Charles Spurgeon
A SERMON TO THE LORD’S LITTLE CHILDREN
“I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” 1 John 2:12.
“I write to you, little children, because you know the Father.” 1 John 2:13. (Revised Version).
Introduction: The Change in Tense
PROBABLY you ask, “Why does John say first, ‘I write,’ and then in verse 14, ‘I have written’?” There is a beautiful touch of nature in this speedy change of tense. John was an extremely old man, and therefore while he says, “I write,” he adds, “I have written,” as if he felt that it might be the last time that he should take his pen in hand. Very soon with him, the present tense would change into the past, and he indicates the fact by changing his mode of speech. Perhaps he even felt that possibly before the letter reached the brethren to whom he addressed it, he would be no more among the sons of men. Therefore he says, “I write,” indicating that while he was still with them, with warm and loving heart he solemnly exhorted them. And then he adds, “I have written,” as if he had recorded his dying testimony, and left it as his last legacy of love. To us today, John’s words run altogether in the past tense—“I have written.” But we need not therefore forget that they were the well-considered words of a venerated father in Christ and that he wrote them as one so near to his departure that he regarded himself as already on the move, and therefore scarcely knew which tense to use. Ah, my brethren, how soon our, “I speak,” will change into, “I have spoken.” Let this invest every word with solemnity. Remember also what order of man John was—that disciple whom Jesus loved, whose head had leaned on Jesus’ bosom, whose eyes had seen the King in His beauty, and whose strengthened gaze had looked within the gates of pearl. This is he who at one time saw the pierced heart of the Well-beloved pouring forth blood and water. And at another beheld the Lion of the tribe of Judah prevail to take the book and loose the seven seals thereof. It is the apostle of love who says to us, “I write to you,” “I have written to you.” Let us carefully note what the Spirit says to us by His servant John.
The “Little Children” in God’s Family
Observe that our text is addressed to the “little children.” It is thought by many wise interpreters that under this term John includes the whole church of God, and that afterwards He divides that church into two companies—the fathers and the young men, those who under one aspect are all “little children,” are under another, regarded as young men or fathers. There is very much to support this view in several instances in this epistle. John is evidently addressing all the saints when he speaks of them as, “my little children,” as, for instance, in the 18th verse of the third chapter, and also in the closing verse, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” Surely, all the saints are included in these exhortations. There is a sense in which every Christian is still a little child, a sense in which he ought to be so—always dependent upon the great Father, always ready to receive the word of the Father without question, always teachable, always restful in the Father’s care, and full of love to Him who is his all in all. Of necessity we must always be children before God, for our finite capacity is so limited that we are mere babes in knowledge in the presence of Infinite wisdom and as very sucklings in understanding when contrasted with the great Father of spirits. We know enough to make us know that we know very little. The most advanced intellects in the church are but as infants compared with the Ancient of Days. We are of yesterday and know nothing. With all our experience, with all our study, with all our meditation, with all our illumination, we remain “little children” when measured by the boundless knowledge of the Lord. Yes, I mean the fathers, the men who bring sinners to Jesus, the men who teach others, and are themselves taught of God, even these must each one cry out with Jeremiah, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.” I mean the young men who have overcome the wicked one, whose holy valor sets them in the forefront of the battle, where they turn to fight the armies of the aliens. “They are strong,” says John, and yet, in the presence of the mighty God of Jacob, what are our champions and our valiant men? Are they not still but as “little children”? It may do us all good to join the infant-class this morning, or, at least to sit with the boys in the school of grace. Even those who have made the greatest advances in divine grace may do well to “become as little children” that they may still more fully enter into the kingdom of heaven, and have closer fellowship with “the holy child Jesus.” It may even be an advance for some who have grown self-willed as they have advanced in knowledge, if they will say with David, “Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.” Happy childhood, when it means entire submission to the Father and sweet delight in His will! Still, I am inclined to think that in this case John really does divide the entire church into three classes—the babes in grace, or the children, or as one of the words might properly be translated, the boys—those who have not long been born into the family, these are an interesting company. Then follow the young men, these are the second class, and a valued body of Christians they are, in the fullness of their vigor, strong in faith, giving glory to God, mighty in prayer, vehement in action, and bold in testimony. May the Lord muster among our hosts a grand army of these vigorous heroes who shall earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. The fighting power of the church militant must come out of them. These are they that turn the battle to the gate. Blessed is the man that has his quiver full of them. Then there is the third class, the fathers, the mature, and the experienced. These do not quite so much delight in war as the young men do, but at home they diligently care for the household of faith, watching over the feeble, strengthening and comforting them. These are able by their experience to answer accusers, to edify the untaught, and to guide the ignorant. Their knowledge is deep, and they are therefore, able to become teachers of others. They are men of spiritual force, and have come to the full stature of men in Christ Jesus. Therefore, they are the solid strength of the church. If the young men are the church’s arm, these are the church’s backbone. We need to have many such, though alas, it is to be feared that our churches are much like the apostolic ones, of which Paul said, “You have not many fathers.” This morning I am going to say nothing at all to the young men, nor to the fathers, except so far as they are willing to include themselves under the term of “little children.” And as we have already said, there is just reason why they should do so. Little children, it is to you I speak this day. I mean you that have newly been converted, whose first cries of repentance are still in our ears. You, I mean, whose grace is feeble; who are new to everything in the house of God, and as yet, need to be fed with the milk of simple elementary truth. You are the little children, dear to the whole family. You, I mean, who are but little in Israel as yet—little in knowledge, little in faith, little in strength, little in service, little in patience. You cannot, as yet, keep the watch of the house of the Lord, for you yourselves need to be watched over. You tremble when you try to stand, and your unaccustomed feet can scarcely bear you along the road without a helping hand. You are very apt to tumble down, and probably will do so many times before you learn to walk with the fathers, or run with the young men. You little children may, by some, be thought to be a burden, but the wise among us count you a blessing. The more of you the merrier in the church of God, for you are the blessed of the Lord, and we are glad to hear your youthful voices in the streets of the New Jerusalem. To you I shall speak this morning, as the Holy Spirit shall enable me. I would say these things to you: First, observe your privilege—“I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you.” Then, note your knowledge—“I have written unto you, little children, because you know, or have known, the Father.” And thirdly, consider the precepts addressed to you. When we get to that point I shall ask you to refer to your Bibles that we may run through the whole of this epistle and see what John has to say to little children. May we receive the word with meekness that we may grow thereby.
I. The Privilege of Little Children in Christ
First, I want the babes in grace, the weak in faith, the lambs of the flock, to notice THEIR PRIVILEGE. “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” This is a privilege extremely desired by the little children. They have but lately felt the burden of guilt, They still smart under the lashes of conscience. The Spirit of God has but newly convinced them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. And therefore, above everything, their prayer is, “Father, forgive me.” To them the remission of sins stands out as the first and most desirable of all blessings, and truly they are right in their estimate. For what possession is there which can be called a blessing at all until sin is forgiven? It matters not how healthy a man may be, if his conscience is worried with his sin, his inmost heart is sick. It is small comfort to him to have all the comforts of this life if his heart feels the gnawing of the undying worm of conscious guilt. “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” comes often from his breast as he beats upon it in the deep humiliation of his soul. There can be no joy and rest for him till he hears the words, “The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die.” To the freshly saved, it is a joy worth worlds to have their sins forgiven. It is bliss akin to the heaven of angels and this joy belongs by right to all the saints, yes, even to the little children in the family of God. You were only born again last Sunday, but your sins are forgiven you. Perhaps it is only this morning that you have sought your Savior’s face and have come to believe in Him, but your sins are forgiven you. This assurance is as sweet to you as a seraph’s song. I could not have told you a better piece of news. The pardon of sin is as the pearl of great price to you in your present stage of spiritual life. You would have sold all that you had in order to procure it, and now that you have it, your heart is aglow with gratitude. The wound in your conscience, so lately raw and bleeding, makes you set a high price upon the healing balm of free and full forgiveness. Far be it from me to stay your holy joy, and yet the Lord will show you greater things than these. At your stage of experience pardon is the most prominent blessing of the covenant. A newly converted man does not know much about sanctification or union to Christ. Perhaps he does not know much about election, calling, or sealing, but the principal point he dwells upon is pardon. It is written in the Creed—“I believe in the forgiveness of sins,” and the man who has newly found peace with God by Jesus Christ repeats that article of the Creed with solemn emphasis. “I believe in the forgiveness of sins,” he says, for he has just realized it, and to him it is a gift so great that like the moon and the stars, it shines as a queen among the blessings of grace. Pardon of sin seems to the “little children” to comprehend the whole work of Jesus, and the whole work of the Holy Spirit too. Vast favors lie beyond, but to him who has newly crossed the Jordan, this one valley of Eschol fills all the range of vision, and the soul hardly dreams of any further benediction. The newly-pardoned does not yet see the innumerable other blessings which come in the train of forgiveness. He is for the present absorbed in the hearing of that one sentence, “Go in peace; your sins which are many are all forgiven you.” Well, beloved child, many more blessings await you. Pardon is but an entrance blessing, a welcome at the doorstep; there are rarer joys within the house. You have become an heir to a boundless inheritance. All things are yours. Heaven, and Christ and God are yours. Yet I marvel not that at present all your heart is taken up with a sense of pardoned sin. I will not disturb you, but I will rejoice with you. I will even sit down and sing with you. Let this be our hymn— “Now, oh joy my sins are pardoned! Now I can, and do believe! All I have, and am, and shall be, To my precious Lord I give.”
II. The Knowledge of the Father
Even the full-grown child of God highly values this gift so dear to little children, and although he has received many other mercies besides, yet still it is a chief part of his joy that he has been cleansed from sin and clothed with righteousness. Ah, and our elder brothers who are now in the king’s country, this is a chief point even with them, that they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. Yes, dear little children, you have obtained a most precious favor in which you do well to rejoice. “Your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” Here let me observe that the forgiveness of sins is assuredly the possession of the new beginner in the divine life. He is as certainly forgiven as he ever shall be. The forgiveness of sins is not a matter of degrees or of growth. It is done in an instant, and done forever, never to be reversed. The child of God who was born but yesterday is not as completely sanctified as he will be. He is not as completely instructed as he will be. He is not as completely conformed to the image of Christ as he will be. But he is as completely pardoned as the full-grown saint. He that just now passed the gate of pearl—did you not hear the shout as he entered, like a shock of corn fully ripe that comes in his season?—he, I say, was not more truly pardoned than you who but an hour ago believed in Christ unto the salvation of your soul. The dying thief had not many minutes found mercy, and yet the Lord Jesus said to him, “Today shall you be with Me in paradise.” It is plain, therefore, that he had been perfectly cleansed in a moment. To wash in the fountain filled with blood is not a business of weeks and months and years, nor is it to be repeated many times and often. But he that is washed is there and then made whiter than snow, and there is from then on, no defilement upon him. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you,” they are all gone. Grace has most effectually removed them from you as far as the east is from the west. The Egyptians at the Red Sea were not destroyed by little and by little. They were not swallowed up in the flood a regiment at a time. The eager depths which had by miracle been divided for a time, leaped together and Pharaoh and his hosts, all of them, were covered, to be seen no more forever. Sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously. “The depths have covered them; there is not one of them left.” The Israelites had but barely set their foot upon the other side of the Red Sea and yet all their enemies were as completely drowned as when the people entered into the Promised Land. It is even so with you who have believed in Christ but newly, your sins are cast into the depths of the sea.
Your iniquities are subdued by the Lord Jesus, who has come to save His people from their sins. Therefore, little children, praise your God, and sing unto His name with all your might—“Who forgives all our iniquities; who heals all our diseases.”
III. The Precepts for Little Children
Note, also, that your sins are forgiven you on the same terms as those of the Apostle, and the greatest of the saints, “Your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake,” that is, for the sake of Jesus, for the sake of His glorious person, for the sake of His honorable offices, for the sake of His shed blood and atoning death, for the sake of His glorious resurrection, for the sake of His perpetual intercession before the throne of God. Your sins are not forgiven you because of anything you are or hope to be, nor because of anything that you have done or have suffered. You are forgiven for Christ’s name’s sake, and all the saints of God can say the same. This is a sure ground of hope. Quicksand there is none, but a solid rock is under our feet. Had the pardon been granted for our own work’s sake, it might have been reversed upon our disobedience. But as sin is pardoned for Christ’s sake, the pardon is irreversible, since there is no change in Christ. Is not this a dainty sweet for the little children? How gladly do I come and sit at the children’s table when I see such food placed thereon. Now notice that this is the reason why John wrote to you, little children. People do not generally write letters to little children, but John does, because of these special little ones it can be said, their sins are forgiven them. The moment, then, that a man has his sins forgiven, he is old enough to begin to understand that which is written, and he should become a Bible reader and a Bible searcher. The moment that his sins are forgiven him for Christ’s name’s sake, he becomes capable of exhortation, and it is his business to attend to what is written to him. If pardoned as criminals, we are enlisted as workers. Why, I think if my sins have been forgiven me, my heaven-born instincts make me ask, “Lord, what will you have me to do? Have You done so much for me? Then set me about doing something for You. Give me, as a privilege, the opportunity of serving You.” Therefore, John, knowing that the little children would be eager to obey, has written to them in this epistle certain commands, of which I will speak to you further on. Only, little children, be on the alert to begin at once, your work of faith and labor of love.
Conclusion
May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you, and may you grow in grace till you come unto the fullness of the stature of men in Him. May His grace be upon all them that love Him, and wait for His appearing.