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Unsinkable Truths

by Stephen Davey Scripture Reference: 1 John 2:3–17

In today’s passage, the apostle John gives us both assurances and warnings. We are assured of God’s absolute forgiveness and faithfulness, but we are cautioned to avoid tying ourselves to the ungodly world around us.

Transcript

When the Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage in April 1912, it was the most luxurious vessel ever built. It had state-of-the-art safety features, including a double hull with sixteen watertight compartments. It was declared “unsinkable.”

On that first voyage, an iceberg in the North Atlantic sliced through the ship’s hull like a knife cutting through butter. In less than three hours, the unsinkable Titanic went to the bottom of the ocean, and tragically, 1,500 passengers went to a watery grave.

I have read that first-class tickets would have cost, in today’s economy, nearly $100,000. But do you think anyone would have paid even one dollar, had they known the outcome? No one buys a ticket to board a sinking ship!

Yet people today are investing their lives in a ship that God has publicly announced is going to sink. That ship is this world, and it is swiftly sailing toward the iceberg of God’s judgment.

But here is the good news. God has a guarantee of safety—unsinkability—that only He can ensure. And that guarantee is our current text, on our Wisdom Journey.

We are in 1 John 2, where John presents three commands for us to follow as we sail toward our eternal, heavenly harbor.

Here is the first command: Do not walk in the darkness but in the light!

Look at verses 3-4:

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.

After reading these verses, maybe you are thinking, “I am going to be thrown overboard, because I cannot keep God’s commandments. Never mind an iceberg.”

I have read commentators who are convinced John is trying to identify unsaved people here for daring to think they were genuine Christians. But that is not the heart and spirit of John’s letter. He is writing to reassure believers, not terrify them.

And let me add, John is not promoting a works salvation, suggesting that if we obey God’s commandments, we get to sail into heaven. If that were the case, we would all sink.

John is referring to our personal priorities and desires. A genuine believer truly wants to obey the Lord. I like to say this is the direction his toes are pointed.

John goes on to say that those who claim to know the Lord but show no desire to obey Him are lying. They are lying to you, and they are lying to God. They are not fooling anyone, except maybe themselves.

This is no different from what Jesus said about determining true believers: “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:20). In other words, a genuine believer wants to obey God because he truly loves God.

In fact, that is what verse 5 says. If we set the priority of our lives to obey God’s Word, “the love of God is perfected” in us. “Perfected” does not mean we reach perfection; it means that God’s love is demonstrated fully in and through our lives.

John then tells his readers that he is not teaching them something new: “Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning” (verse 7). He is talking about Jesus’ teaching that the greatest commandment in God’s law is love (Matthew 22:37-39).

Now John gets back to talking about light and darkness. He writes, “The darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining” (verse 8). That is, the love of Christ is shining in the world through us, His followers.

And if it is not shining—if we are hating a brother in Christ or treating him like an enemy—then John says here in verse 9 that we are walking back there in the shadows of darkness from our old lifestyle of sin. We are acting just like the dark and blinded world around us.

Is it possible for a true Christian to be hateful toward others? Can true Christians carry a grudge and develop resentment that turns down the light of their testimony and makes them look no better than a shadowy dark world? Absolutely. I have met a few of them along the way. I myself have been unkind and resentful at times, and maybe you have too.

Beloved, it is possible for a believer, somewhere along the way—because of some painful insult, or mistreatment, or loss, or disappointment—to choose to water the seeds of resentment and hatred, to turn down the light of joy and obedience and live back there in the shadows. Well, neither John the apostle nor God wants you living in the shadows but rather walking in the light.

Here is the second command: Do not walk in fear but with courage.

John gives a shot of encouragement here as he addresses believers who are in differing stages of maturity. He says in verse 12, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven.” That is a basic reminder that needs to be reinforced to new believers.

Then in verse 13, and again in verse 14, the apostle writes, “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.” John is reassuring more spiritually mature believers of the deeper truths of Jesus’ eternal preexistence from eternity past.

In the middle of verse 13, John says, “I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.” These are believers standing in the thick of the fight against the Evil One, and they are reassured of their ultimate victory in Christ.

Here is the third command: Do not live for a doomed world but for eternity!

John states this rather bluntly in verse 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.

When you hear these words, your first reaction might be one of dread. “Oh, no! There are a lot of things in this world I love! I love the mountains, beautiful sunsets, playing golf every now and then.”

Well, before you go out there and burn your golf clubs, John defines what he means by “the world”—verse 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.

He is basically talking about sinful cravings and forbidden desires. And note the warning: “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (verse 17).

This world is a sinking ship. It is heading for a collision with the truth and justice of almighty God.

I remember reading that following the Titanic’s sinking, the challenge was how to inform the relatives whether their loved ones were alive or dead. At the White Star Line’s office in Liverpool, England, a huge board was set up. On one side was a heading that read “Known to Be Saved.” On the other side was the heading “Known to Be Lost.”

Hundreds of people gathered to watch the updates whenever a messenger brought news. They held their breaths as the names were added to the columns. Although the passengers were first class, second class, and third class, after the ship went down, there were only two categories: the saved and the lost.

I could not help but think that today, every passenger on Planet Earth belongs to one of only two categories. It will not matter how nice your house was or whether you were wealthy or struggled financially. What will matter is in which category your name is written: known to be lost or known to be saved.

If you are not already among the saved, there is a lifeboat that stands ready in the person of Jesus Christ. Climb aboard; be rescued by faith in Christ, forever.

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