Protect Your Greatest Treasure from Insidious Impostors

PROTECT YOUR GREATEST TREASURE FROM INSIDIOUS IMPOSTORS 

An Exposition of 1 John 5:21

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: September 14, 2025

Series: Key Teachings for Your Spiritual Health

Note: Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning. I invite you to turn to the letter of First John, chapter 5. Momentarily, I'll be referring to 1 John 5:21. I also want to let you know before I pray here that we're going to have our congregational share time today after the message. Usually we have the share time on the third Sunday of the month, but next Sunday is the third Sunday of the month, and one of our global outreach partners is going to be with us, and so we're going to do the share time today after the message. You might have something that you want to share in response to the message, or maybe you have a brief word of encouragement or word of testimony that you would like to share with one another, and so you'll have time to do that after the message.

Let me go ahead and ask the Lord to bless our time together in the Word:

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have given us a faithful word from heaven to guide our lives on earth. And Father, I pray that through the message and through the reflection in the message this morning, that you would speak powerfully to our hearts, that you would transform our lives, that you would draw us nearer to you, O God. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

WORD-SHAPED WISDOM FOR WALKING WITH GOD

So I just want to begin by reminding us of the priority in life. The priority in life is to be in right relationship with the Lord. That's what he does – he calls us to be in relationship, in fellowship, with Him. And the privilege and calling that we have daily in our lives is to walk with God, to know him just a little bit better and to reflect his character in the relationships and responsibilities that we have.

And in order to facilitate that fellowship and that walk with God, God has given us His Word. Who has a Bible this morning? Okay, great. God has given you – given us – the Bible, not to make you a Scripture expert. The goal of studying the Bible is not to master the Bible. The goal of studying the Bible is not to be a doctrinal genius. God has given us His Word so that we would actually know him better, so that we would have the tools and so that we would have the wisdom and so that we would be equipped to walk with him and to do the things that he has called us to do – in his power, in his wisdom, and in his strength.

And I want to emphasize this because sometimes we gravitate toward rules – just tell me what to do or not do, and then everything will be okay. Think about the verse that we're going to reflect on this morning, First John 5:21, which says, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21) And we're gonna talk about that. We have this relationship with God, and some of us might like to have 12 rules – give me 12 rules that will guarantee that I will stay away from idols. Give me 12 rules that will give me, you know, guaranteed success that I won't fall into idolatry. It just doesn't work like that.

We're called into a relationship with the living God, and we're called to walk with him in wisdom. We need wisdom to walk with God. If we had 12 rules and kept them, guess what? Those 12 rules and our keeping of them would become our idol. It would become a substitute for a living, dynamic fellowship with the living God.

And so I want to encourage us this morning to have a mindset as we approach the Bible, as we approach his words and his instruction, to hear it as the living God who inhabits the heavens, speaking to us words of wisdom to guide our relationship with Him.

Some of you– when I get into a particular autobiographical reflection later in the sermon – some of you will be tempted to hear what I am saying legalistically, like I'm commending some new rule for you to observe. And I do not want you to hear that autobiographical reflection that way. Rather, I want you to hear it as one recovering sinner sharing a little bit of his story with other recovering sinners so that we can all grow in the wisdom that God wants us to have.

Now, one little thing about idolatry before I kind of reflect on this verse and its larger context. You see idolatry all throughout the Bible. Idolatry is essentially spiritual infidelity or spiritual adultery. Idolatry is putting an idol, which could be anything or anyone that is not God, idolatry is putting something that is not God in God's place. It is giving to something that is not God the confidence and affection and attention and devotion that belongs to God alone. And anything can become an idol to us, even good things. Most of the idols that we have are actually good things that we have turned into God-things. And we have to learn to demote them and dethrone them from a place of centrality in our lives.

WALKING THROUGH 1 JOHN 5:21

So as you're looking at 1 John 5:21, let me start there before I back up and look at the larger context a little bit.

The verse beings, “Little children”. This is a term of endearment. Little children – dear children – this word coming to us ultimately from God our Father. He regards us as his beloved children. We are in relationship with him. And in the context of this relationship with him, where we are beloved and valued and cherished by him, he instructs us.

The instruction is: “keep yourselves from idols.” Dear children, there's danger out there, namely idols, things that would threaten to come between you and God, things that would undermine your relationship with the living God. And you and I have a responsibility to meet that danger with intentionality. He says, “keep yourselves from idols.” We have a responsibility to pursue our own spiritual protection and safety. Over in the letter of Jude, we're told to “keep [ourselves] in the love of God” (Jude 21).

So on the one hand, we're to keep ourselves in the love of God, to keep our heart warm toward the Lord. And the other side of the coin is to be on guard against encroachments, be on guard against those idols that would sneak in and undermine our relationship with the Lord.

And it's important to note that even though idols are something outside of us – unless we're idolizing ourself, which is something that we do often enough – but most of our idols are outside of us. And it's something that we're putting in the place of God. But the problem is inside of us. The problem is that in our sinfulness, we are the kind of people who can be led astray by idols. This was Paul's burden as he spoke to the Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, he was concerned that these dear believers would be led astray from a pure and simple devotion to Christ (see 2 Corinthians 11:2-3). And it says over in Hebrews chapter 12 to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” so that we can “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). So we have to recognize that the problem is within us, and we have to be watchful and vigilant over our hearts so that we are not led astray, and so that we have a mindset to throw off the weights and throw off the hindrances that are weighing us down in relationship with the Lord.

THE PREREQUISITE TO KEEPING YOURSELF FROM IDOLS

Now, before I go back into the larger context of verses 9 to 21, I want to say something very important. If you don't understand this, you won't understand the message, okay? If you're actually going to keep yourselves from idols, then you must first grasp, deeply grasp, how truly wonderful it is to have fellowship with Jesus. If you're not in a vibrant relationship with Jesus, then you do not have the mindset and wherewithal to keep yourselves from idols.

I've titled the sermon, “Protect Your Greatest Treasure from Insidious Impostors”. But let's be real: you can't protect what you don't have, or you won't protect what you don't value. If you don't have a vibrant personal relationship with the living God, if you don't value his worth and his will and his care, then you're not going to be motivated and vigilant to keep yourselves from idols. In fact, you will hear this sermon as an exercise in trying to make you unhappy. Because if you think that God is boring and that idols are fun, and you got some middle-aged guy up here speaking about how you should keep yourselves from idols, what you hear is, ‘God doesn't want me to have fun,’ because idols are what make you tick.

And so if you don't have a dynamic relationship with the living God, and if you're frankly enthralled with all kinds of idols and that's what gives you happiness and meaning and comfort and significance, I'm not talking to you this morning. You don't have the mindset or wherewithal to keep yourselves from idols. And if you're in bondage to idols, then you need to discover the joy of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. You need to discover the joy of knowing the living God. Then, and only then, will you have something to protect.

REFLECTING ON 1 JOHN 5:9-21

Now let's go back to verse nine. I'm not going to go into a lot of depth on verses 9 to 20, but I do want you to see the context, because the context makes very clear that this call to keep ourselves from idols is in fact a call to protect our greatest treasure, which is all that we have in Christ.

So let me just read 1 John 5:9-21 and then make a few comments. First John 5:9-21 says,

⁹ If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. ¹¹ And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. ¹⁷ All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

¹⁸ We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

¹⁹ We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. ²¹ Little children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:9-21)

Or as I said in my sermon title, keep yourselves from insidious impostors. God alone is the truth, the true and living God.

Now think, just for a few minutes here, think about what you, my fellow believer, my fellow Christian, think about what you actually have – the great treasure that you have in Christ.

In verse 10, “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.” You have, if you're a believer, you have the testimony of God, the promises of God, the word of God, the witness of God, in your heart. You know that you know that you know, because God has impressed it upon you and you believe him.

And going to verse 12, “Whoever has the Son has life”. You have the Son, the eternal Word of God, the Son of the Father – you have him as your bridegroom. You have him as your Savior and Lord and Almighty King.

And if you have him, you have life. Not just any kind of life, not just biological life, but you have spiritual and eternal life. He is the living and true God. In him is life (see John 1:4). And if you have him, then you have God's life at work in you, which the Holy Spirit makes real in your actual experience. And you will go on living with God forever.

You have the testimony of God within you. You have Christ. You have life.

You have the kind of relationship with God – moving to verses 14 to 15, where you have a Father who is attentive to you. He hears and answers prayer.

And then, in terms of verse 16, out of that loving, prayerful relationship that you have with the Father, you then bring that into your relationships with one another. You bring your prayerfulness into those relationships with others, such that God hears and answers your prayers for the well-being of your brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a community of love and a community of prayer in which God is actively at work.

Moving to verses 18 and 19, we enjoy divine protection. This is a fallen and sinful, and in many ways from the vantage point of the flesh, a scary world. There are many things to trip you up or weigh you down. “[The] whole world lies in the power of the evil one”, it says in verse 19. But we believers are safe and secure and protected in the faithful hands of God.

In verse 20, it says, “[We] know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true”. Kind of putting this into a singular concept, we might say that if you're a believer, Jesus has given you a mind to know God. Think about that. He has given you a mind to know God. When I was a child and young teenager, I knew a lot about God, but I did not have a mind to know God, to really grasp his love and his ways and his calling upon my life. But you have a mind to know Him.

And not only do you have a mind to know him, you are actually in him, as it says later in verse 20. How can we wrap our minds around that? “[We] are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.” We are in Him. We are sons and daughters in his family. We are members of his body. Like branches, we are branches in the vine. We are in him, in relationship with him, in his hand, under his watchful care, and he is actively at work in our lives.

And then John says, “He is the true God in eternal life.” “The true God and eternal life.” The real deal, the very embodiment of reality and truth, Jesus Christ. You know him and you're in him and you're safe in him. And you have life in him. And the Holy Spirit's at work in your life through him.

And that's when he says, returning now to verse 21: dear child, beloved child, realizing how much you have, realizing the great treasure that you have, guard it. Don't throw it away. Don't go down detours and rabbit trails. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep yourself warm in your devotion to Him.

In the words of the songwriter Graham Kendrick:

“Knowing you, Jesus

Knowing you,

There is no greater thing

You're my all, You're the best

You're my joy, my righteousness

And I love You, Lord”[1]

Is that the reality in your heart and in your life this morning? If it's not the reality in your heart and life this morning, would you like it to be? You have to open your heart to the words of Christ.

SOME INSIGHT INTO MY OWN JOURNEY

Now to the autobiographical part of this message.

I went camping. It's a dangerous thing to go camping. So we went camping on August 17 and that Sunday afternoon we set up the campsite. And I took a couple pictures of the campsite to have a little record of our vacation. And then, this was all very intentional and planned ahead of time, and then I turned this Smartphone off and left it off for over seven consecutive days. It was glorious, because I've had a love-hate relationship with the Smartphone for a long time.

And as I was reading and reflecting around the campfire, I read something that was arresting and very applicable to me. I was reading about how, you know, how discipleship can be understood as an interactive partnership with God. And I was just pondering that, what I had read. And it began to dawn on me that for a very long time I've been living in an interactive partnership with this Smartphone. And that really began to bother me.

And I knew that I had to do something about it, because we're supposed to keep ourselves from idols. We're supposed to keep ourselves from God-substitutes. If I'm going to have an interactive partnership in God in which I'm depending on him and he's working in and through me, then how can I be in an interactive dependent partnership with this thing, such that I'm doing everything in and through this?

Now, I could go on and talk about this in terms of anecdotes and stories, or I could get preachy about it, but I'm not going to do that. What I am going to do is read you a letter. Maybe this will help you to hear and understand what I've been dealing with over the last two or three weeks.

Now I wrote this letter from the perspective of the enemy of my soul. As the letter begins “Dear Fool”, let me be clear that I’m the fool. Whatever God is speaking to you, that’s between you and him. This is my story. I’m the fool.

Dear Fool,

Gotcha! You have been played.

I’m sorry that my grip on your mind is waning, but I can’t resist the opportunity to “rub it in” concerning my partial success in shrinking your soul over these last few years. Let me remind you what you signed up for every time you dropped hundreds of dollars on those sophisticated omni-competent mobile computers that you wished to hold in your hand and keep in your pocket.

Here’s what you signed up for, and here’s what I promised: I am a marvel of computing technology, right at your fingertips. I will put the vastness of the world at the doorstep of your heart. I promise to be with you wherever you go, and to assist you with comfort and counsel whenever trials befall you. I’ll greet you in the morning, I’ll stay by your side through the twists and turns of the day, I’ll be your faithful traveling companion, I’ll be a visible guest at lunch, I’ll be your light in the darkness, I’ll be your song in the night, I’ll answer you whenever you call.

I am brilliant: all the treasures of publicly available knowledge are hidden in me, and I will make this vast knowledge available to you. Just ask.

The great thing about me is that I am here to serve you. I take Burger King’s “Your way, right away” slogan to unimaginable levels – far beyond what any previous generation could ask for or imagine. All at your fingertips, whenever you want. I will sing to you the songs that you want to hear. I will speak to you the words that you want to ponder. I will be your GPS, guiding you in right paths. I will even keep your schedule and manage your time. And I’ll never argue with you, the way a real person would.

In the old days, pagans had a pantheon of gods – the god of the sky, the god of the sea, the god of fire, the god of love, and many more. Eventually some who called themselves Christians came along and began developing a pantheon of patron saints for virtually every area of life. Well, I have some good news for you: you can forget about all that transcendent “pie in the sky” nonsense. I am genius, and I have something far better for you. If it’s practical help you want, I have an App for everything – finance, exercise, news, games, and even prayer, go figure. Each App comes with its own distinct icon. I don’t want you to miss out on the opportunity to pay homage to images. And if it’s information or advice you want, I have a podcast or audiobook or YouTube channel on every subject. I’m sure we can curate a listening plan just for you, tailored to your specific needs.

I will also be the great conversational mediator between you and your friends. I have so many message apps and chat groups, that you can just go on your merry way chatting and messaging as often as you like.

When I consider all that I offer, and all the ways that you have tapped into me, I see no reason not to say what I had planned all along: apart from me, you can do nothing!

You have to admit, I’m pretty awesome. And just think: we went everywhere together. I’m sad that the spell that I had cast upon you has been broken. I never did like camping trips!

Of course, I always knew the truth, I just wanted to keep you blind to it.

It is true: it is difficult to receive my comprehensive multi-functional brilliance without treating me as a god. Did you really think you could make me central to all of your activities, without making me central?

It is true: it is difficult to pay attention to God when you’re constantly checking in with me all throughout the day, every day. Did you really think that you could pray without ceasing when you’re unceasingly devoted to checking in with your phone?

It is true: it is difficult to do the hard and sustained work of prayer and study, reading and reflection, silence and solitude and spiritual attentiveness, when I’ve trained you to need a constant stream of “dopamine hits”, which I so gladly give you every time you pick me up. Your addiction is my intent. Every time you pick me up, I make you feel important, like something big is happening. Ha! The trick almost worked. Oh, and by the way, you do know that these all-mighty devices are made of precious metals, don’t you? Did you really think that you could handle all those precious metals, without losing your grip on the heavenly words which the old Book says are more desirable than fine gold and more valuable than thousands of pieces of silver? It is hard to behold the Eternal when you’re staring at my luminating screen all the time!

It is true: real relationships are much more difficult when I’ve discipled you to prefer easy pseudo-relationships mediated by yours truly. Did you really think you could love your neighbor as yourself when both you and your neighbor are hiding behind screens?

It is true: the heavens declare the glory of God, and the earth is full of His steadfast love, and human beings bear the image of the Divine, but you’ve missed so much of this beauty because you’ve been preoccupied with me. God gave you the heavens and the earth and your family and friends, and you nearly traded it all for a 3-inch by 6-inch computer. Who would’ve thought? I’ve shrunk your soul, fool, you’ve got to give me that!

It is true: I was always appealing to your worst instincts. I came to you as a ring of power, promising you control, promising you a taste of omnipresence (that you could go anywhere through me) and omniscience (that you could know everything through me). I assured you that you shall be as god. Remember that one? Admit it, that is what you wanted: control, or at least the illusion of control, and all so very comfortable and convenient. I promised you a taste of omnipresence, but I made it difficult for you to be truly present anywhere, with anyone. The spoils of my victory are all the lost moments, lost hours, and shortchanged relationships that you will never get back. When you were folding clothes and I had you listening to that eloquent and edifying podcast, I was running an old play on your family: Dad is busy, Dad isn’t here right now, Dad isn’t available, Dad is in his own mental world, Dad is not on parenting duty right now. Rather clever, eh? And when I promised you a taste of omniscience, I made it difficult for you to be truly wise and reflective in the depths of your soul. My handiwork is to create dull, shallow, impulsive, and anxious people – and to think that I almost succeeded.

When you turned me off on that camping trip, you went off script. You went off script when you picked up that book on discipleship, and you read about how discipleship is an interactive partnership with God, and you took it to heart, and then you concluded that – let’s be frank – you concluded that you had been having an affair with me. You weren’t supposed to realize that, you weren’t supposed to know that. But I must say, Screwtape did warn me that I would lose some people this way.

I will miss your constant devotion. But be sure of this: I’ll always be near, ready to sneak back into your life at a moment’s notice. We shall see which one of us proves to be more diligent!

Not rooting for you.

Sincerely,

Cold Genius (Chief Principality for the Insidious Use of Distracting Devices to Shrink, Shrivel, and Shred Human Souls)

Now, some will say that I've overstated the case. Others will think that I'm giving some kind of a rule for everyone, but I'm not. This sermon is not about Smartphones. This sermon is about idols. And I'm dealing with this in terms of my journey with the Lord. While recognizing some of the legitimate uses of this device, I am resolved to – and I've already started this process – I'm resolved to learn how to decenter it from my life, to demote it, to dethrone it from its place of constant centrality in my day-to-day activities. And I've already been putting it away for significant blocks of time. 

Earlier in the summer, before any of this happened, you know, I'd have the phone on in the kitchen and kids are getting up and everybody's attention is drawn to the phone. I'm like, this is not good. I would rather not listen to these wonderful podcasts that I like to listen to, in order to protect and promote the more important thing, which is to have relationships with each other. I would rather reduce my own legitimate uses of my Smartphone, than to have everyone fixated on this screen because everyone thins that this screen is the door to a wonderful world.

Listen, here is my desire: Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ at my right, Christ at my left, Christ all around.[2] And you may be wired differently than I am, but I cannot abide in even the ballpark of that reality when I'm in this constant interactive relationship with this Smartphone. Just over the weekend, having this thing off and out of sight, just the capacity for reflection and the capacity for attentiveness and the capacity for relationship just rises as this device gets put in its proper place.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Now, what about you? Again, I'm not here to talk about Smartphones. I'm here to talk about idols. What is threatening to undermine your relationship with God? What is getting in the way between you and the Lord, between you and the Bible, between you and prayer, between you and vibrant fellowship, between you and productive service for the Lord. As you go throughout your day, I want to encourage you to exercise honesty and vigilance. And if the Lord is impressing things upon your heart and mind right now that you know are interfering with your walk with God, deal with those things.

REMEMBER WHAT IDOLS CAN’T DO

And remember this – as I come to a close – remember this: remember what idols can't do.

Idols don't come down from heaven and become human for you and your salvation. Idols don't see you with caring and loving eyes. Idols don't watch over you with a fatherly and benevolent heart. Idols don't lay down their lives for you so that you can be forgiven and reconciled to God. Idols don't conquer sin and death. Idols don't rise from the dead and bring forgiveness of sins and new life with God. Idols don't work in the depths of your heart in order to make you a better person who is more faithfully reflecting the perfect image of Jesus Christ.

Throw away the idols. Dethrone the idols. Keep yourselves away from idols. And protect the greatest treasure of all, which is knowing and walking faithfully with Christ. Let's pray:

Father, I thank you for this lesson that you've taught me, that you are teaching me. And I pray that throughout this body of believers that there would be a vigilance and a watchfulness and a care, a desire to have a closer walk with you, a desire to throw off every weight and to run with Jesus, to let you be the center and the source and the focus of our everyday lives. I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

ENDNOTES

[1] From the song “Knowing You” by Graham Kendrick. Copyright © 1993 Make Way Music.

[2] Many will recognize these words, for I'm standing on the shoulders of Saint Patrick!