Walking in the Truth — 2 John 1

0:00 Let's commit our time to the Lord, shall we? Heavenly Father, we bow to you this morning. We thank you for your goodness. We thank you for your loveless. We thank you for your scriptures which are given to us that we may know how we ought to live.

0:16 We commit this time to you. Ask that you would speak to us, that you would open our minds and our hearts to hear the things of your spirit. I ask you for strength and I might deliver your word, and that you might work through my faltering lips. We commit this time in Christ's name. Amen.

0:38 Now that we have finished the Epistle of one John, Ray wrapped that up for us last week. We will be going through both two and three John today to wrap up our study of John's epistles. And as I've mentioned before, I usually have to follow Abe Edwards. So this time I have to follow Ray and then Abe has to come after me. So you have to deal with that and I have to get over my anxiety issues and have to follow Ray.

1:17 Ray's not here today, is he? No, he's not here today. I respect Ray a lot. He and I have had some great conversations together, and I just hope I don't mess up what he did last week. So...

1:29 But I'll... I ask for the Lord's help in that today. So let's let's begin. I will read through the epistle of second John, and I'll spend some time working on that. And then we'll we'll read through third John in a little bit.

1:42 The elder, to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth. For the sake of the truth, which abides in us and will be with us forever, grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I was very glad to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the father. And now I ask you, lady, not as writing to you a new commandment, but one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments.

2:19 This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. And for many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist. Watch yourselves that you may not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God.

2:41 The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him a greeting, for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. Having many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and speak face to face that your joy may be made full. The children of your chosen sister greet you. These two epistles of John, second and third John, are very similar in a number of respects.

3:14 They are very personal letters written to two different people, but they're identical in the sense that a broad topic of the of the two is that they focus on truth and love, and how those two should be manifest in the believer personally and also how they should be made manifest in the local church. They are opposites in the sense that Second Sean discusses the importance of keeping our doors closed to false teachers. So our doors both are our personal doors at home, but also keeping the doors of the church closed to those that preach and teach false doctrine. And then third John has the opposite, where we are so... He he teaches us how we're supposed to keep our doors open to the traveling itinerant preachers and missionaries, and how we are to support them.

4:08 Second John, we keep our doors closed to this group. And third John, we keep our doors open to this other group. And all the while, he's preaching it from the aspect of grace and truth and how important it is in our discernment, both as individual believers and as the local body. That's all I'll spend on three John right now. So back into two John, this epistle is another reminder of the Gnosticism which was being spread through the early church.

4:39 Peter and Paul also referred to this. It was the doctrine that the deity of God was bestowed upon the man Jesus for a time, but he was not fully and completely God. And we also have a reference to the teaching that Jesus was not fully man. So he's approaching both of those doctrines that were trying to make their way through the early church. And it was having tremendous ramifications on the young believers and the young churches.

5:21 These false teachers, as we'll see in a little bit, were taking advantage of the church's hospitality and support of the itinerant preachers, those that were traveling, those that had committed their lives to the work of God, the missionaries. And so because the assemblies would support these travelers, both it could be in terms of a bed and a meal at night, but it's also sending them on their way, which could mean food, supplies, money. You know, the churches were supporting those that were preaching the church, and these false teachers were infiltrating that and taking advantage of the church doing that. And it's called religious profiteering, folks, and we still have it today. It's still very dominant, and those that practice it do a great disservice to the Lord and to Christians as a group because so many outsiders only see those television preachers and the ones who are trying to reap money for profit from...

6:23 You know, for the sake of the gospel, as it were. And John is writing to partly correct that, to point it out, and to say how, you know, how you're supposed to respond to men like that. So we begin in verse one, the elder, As has been pointed out, as we've been studying John's Gospel and one John, John was an elder both in terms of position and in age at this point. He was writing this, his most widely believed, at the end of his life when he was on the Island Of Patmos towards the end, and he was the last remaining apostle. And he's writing to the chosen lady.

7:30 It was just she was part of the chosen. She was part of the elect of God. And it's the same word that Peter uses to describe Christ as being the stone in one Peter two:four and six, and also the chosen generation. It's the same word there. And the lady, the Greek word is kiria, which can mean, it just means lady, literally, is really all it means.

7:54 But it can also be, just for the record, a proper name, like the Aramaic Martha. It means lady, but it's also actually used as a proper name. Now, we commonly accept that this letter was written to an individual woman, although you can, and some do apply this to meaning that he was actually writing to the church. So there are similarities there, but we generally, I think that the context lends more to it being a personal letter in that way. But I want to point out that John is addressing this letter, this very personal letter, with instruction about the things that will follow to a woman.

8:37 And it shows us the importance and the equal status that women have before God. It's it's so difficult for us sometimes as we try to preach and and lay out how men and women have totally different responsibilities and totally different roles, but they are complete equals in God's sight, totally totally equal. And she was just as important for John to write to as any other man. And we look at even where The United States was a hundred years ago, women didn't even have the right to vote. And and back, that was in 1920.

9:13 Right? Anyway, something like that. A hundred years ago, women got the right to vote. But even in John's time, was even worse. You know, the male dominance that way, the social, in the social aspect.

9:26 And so John is here throwing all that aside and showing you guys women are equally important. They have equal status before God, it was equally important for him to write to her. This woman that he knew, and knew well, knew personally, knew that she was struggling for some reason. We don't know how, we don't know how, but he knew what was going on. And he was writing to her to encourage her, in some specific ways.

9:54 Another thing that's interesting about the fact that he's talking about how we're supposed to respond to the false teachers and the false doctrine. Another reason this was important for a woman is because those false teachers, and this is true today, it's easier as a general rule to indoctrinate a woman than it is a man. Paul talks about that in one Timothy. You don't have to turn the hood, but you can if you like. And for a moment here, I forgot where my books of the Bible are.

10:35 So in first Timothy two two fourteen, Paul writes, and it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman, being quite deceived, fell into transgression. Sin entered the world through a woman being deceived. And in two Timothy also, Paul writes in chapter three, verses six and seven, he was... Paul is talking about the false teachers, those that were spreading false doctrine. And he's got this long list of undesirable traits, right?

11:05 Starting at the beginning of chapter three. But in verse six, for among them are those who enter household and captivate weak women, weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. So it was it was very easy at at this stage in the game for men to try to weasel their way into the homes through the woman who generally was easier to swindle. And we do see that today sometimes. We hear all the time about women being scammed at the quick oil change place, or when the plumber comes over and things like that.

11:46 I mean, we hear stories about that kind of stuff all the time. And so it's not that all women are that way, and it's not that all men are incapable of being swindled either. So let's make sure that we announce that, and that we we say that for the record. But there was... There's this general there's this general feeling that John needed to encourage this woman, in a personal way about, what was going on and how you're to guard yourself against the false teaching that was becoming so rampant.

12:50 Truth is also the Holy Spirit. John writes in his first epistle, chapter five, the Spirit is truth. And in John's Gospel seventeen seventeen, your word is truth. So truth is made manifest in these three ways, and John points this out in his writings, the different ways that truth is manifest and how that should impact us and what it means to us. And I love that he says in verse two that for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever.

13:24 It's a precious promise from God. Amen? So in verse four, John is very glad to find some of your children walking in the truth just as we have received commandment to do from the father. He is absolutely thrilled to hear about those that are going on and not only participating in the truth, but living it. And the Greek word about...

13:52 The the Greek word there for, the walking in the truth, it's a it's a word that means to walk all around. It's to tread over an entire area. So it's not just a walk, walking in a straight line. It's walking at large, especially as proof of an ability. So, if I can explain that a little bit.

14:21 Are there any runners in the room? Do we have any runners here? Okay, good. I don't have to feel so bad. So, you know, a runner says to one runner that, I bet you can't run a twelve minute mile.

14:34 And so then you proceed to run a ten minute mile just to prove the point. So not only do you do it, but you go beyond what you were supposed to do. Some of you, not very many of you, know that I like to eat a lot. And my metabolism in recent years has begun to show me that I'm going to have to stop. So my wife tries to help me very much and I love her for that.

15:02 But if you ever say something to me about... You make a comment about this item on the menu at this restaurant and that's ridiculous, who could ever eat that? Well, not only will I eat it, but I'll measure how fast I can eat it. So don't do that, okay? Don't ask me if I've ever eaten two Chipotle burritos because it's not hard to do, folks, and I can do it and I'll show you.

15:25 So if you haven't been to Chipotle, you might as well just leave. But that's the sense of the word here, okay? They were walking in the truth, it wasn't just this walk in a straight line. It was I'm going to walk, I'm going to trample all over it to prove the point. Their lives were manifesting the truth so much.

15:47 What they were hearing, what they had been taught, and they were really living it, folks. Really, really living it. And he was just overjoyed. He's flabbergasted at the the the fruit of the spirit that's that's working in their lives. And he's just thrilled.

16:07 In verses five through nine, John actually gives us this little condensed version of his first epistle, so and the tests that are in the first epistle. So verse five, he talks about the test of love. In verse six, he talks about the test of obedience. In seven through nine, he talks about the test of doctrine. Kind of as a bit of a summary there.

16:31 And I'm going to give you a quote here from The new law of Christ is the divine love as wrought into re... The renewed heart by the Holy Spirit, which flows out into the energy of the spirit, unforced and spontaneous toward the object of the divine love. It is, therefore, the perfect law of liberty, James one twenty five and two twelve, in contrast with the external law of Moses. Moses' law demands love. Christ's law is love, and so takes the place of the external law by fulfilling it.

17:45 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. So stand firm. It's another encouragement. And we are given this so many times in the New Testament, so many times.

18:00 To stand firm, stand in your face so that you don't lose what you've achieved. So that you don't lose what's been achieved. Let's see, anyone The, who goes too far. The the Greek word there is to transgress, to go beyond, or to go contrary, or to violate a command, to move away from. And that could be made manifest in a few different ways.

18:29 The teachers could claim to have some new revelation from God. And there is some of that today in the religious sects. Those that that claim that there's more there's more to it than this. Okay? That they've received some divine revelation.

18:47 Those who expound scripture to a point that it's no longer true. We also see that, and we have to be very careful about that as as as, As the men try to stand up here and expound on God's word, it's difficult to make sure that we're sticking with the truth and not taking this too far, because that's definitely an error. And also, taking it too far is taking a passage inappropriately out of context. And that happens very often in the churches today as well. And so we all need to be so careful with that, that when we're quoting a scripture or we're trying to use scripture to help us, we're either taking this verse but then backing it up with this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one.

19:38 Or it's here, read this whole thing and see what he's really saying about it. Okay? And and that's really important to do. I mean, yes, we have, I pulled some things out of context. You know, Jesus is truth.

19:49 I am truth. Thy word is truth. I pulled some things out of context there. But you can go up and look... You can look those up if you want.

19:57 And that's fine, but I'm not trying to, I hope, that I'm not teaching anything that is pulling scripture out of context. So as we go through this letter of what John is trying to teach, and we're getting a full sense for the dangers he's trying to warn us of and how we're supposed to get past them. So how are we supposed to respond to those with the false doctrine? If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him a greeting. This obviously cannot refer to visitors whom we don't know because we are supposed to practice hospitality to the unsaved and the unbelievers because that's part of our testimony.

20:41 It would harm the gospel if if we were very shut down to outsiders as a general rule. So we are supposed to welcome them. We are supposed to show hospitality and love for the unbelievers. And even those that profess to be believers, you know, if we don't know where they are doctrinally, we're still supposed to show them that love. So he's not talking about that.

21:05 But he's talking about once we find that someone's heart is not in the right place, that their doctrine is not in the right place, what are we supposed to do? And it's very plain, it's very clear, and this doesn't leave much for interpretation. Do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting. The the greeting there, is is just as it is in in the English. Greet...

21:35 The the Greek is just to greet. It's it's to be cheerful or happy. It's it's a very impersonal salutation. Otherwise otherwise known as hi. Right?

21:47 We're we're not even supposed to we're not even supposed to do that. We are, know, someone who's professing to be a believer and yet has this doctrine that's so far removed from what is being taught, we are not to associate with them. We are not to associate because by doing that, we indicate that it's okay. And it's it's a really, it's a dangerous thing to do. And and and because other people see those actions.

22:18 Other people can see those actions. And so if you were entertaining someone that everyone knew preached a false doctrine, what does that say then about you personally? What does it say about Gospel? What does it say about the local church? What does it say about all these things?

22:36 And it has a really detrimental effect. So we need to be very careful. And on that note also, we need to be careful about when we donate money. Okay? There's a lot of religious organizations out there, a lot of them, that are claiming to do this, this, this, this, and this, and they are all great things.

23:01 But I would urge you to think twice about those kinds of things. You know, instead of just you get an advertisement in the mail, you send them a check for $20. Do you really know what ministry that is and what they're doing with it? Do you really? And that's important because if we're funding those that are teaching a false doctrine, what is that doing to the Gospel of Christ?

23:23 What is that doing to his message? So I urge you to be careful with that. I'm not saying don't do it, of course. We're supposed to give. We're supposed to support.

23:32 As he's saying and as we're going get to in the third epistle, we're supposed to support those who travel, the missionaries, the ones who preach. We're supposed to support them. But we have to exercise discernment. John wraps up his letter. And this flies in the face of today's social convention.

24:18 You know, now we have so many means and methods of communication, which are great. Very, you know, there's a lot of great things about it, you know, but on the most base level, we administer to someone by sending them a text. And then you get a little bit more personal. I'm going to actually write you a little bit longer of an email. Then we've got, you know what, we could handwrite a letter, and that shows a little bit more of our person.

24:46 We can also phone. We can actually talk with our phones, guys. These do have microphones and speakers in them, we're supposed to actually do this. That's how we do it today. But a phone call can also again, you're getting more and more personal as you're trying to minister or in a discipleship kind of situation.

25:07 But then nothing beats the face to face. Nothing beats the face to face. And for John, even this letter wasn't enough. He had so many things he wanted to say, but you know what, I just hope I can see you, and we can talk about all this stuff together. I'm going to close out second, John, with a quote here.

25:30 Our love is dependent on our obedience. When we don't obey, we don't love. Often, we get in the mindset that our obedience to God affects only ourselves, but that simply is not true. Our actions, whether obedient or disobedient, have ripple effects far beyond our own limited vision of a circumstance. Consider your own life.

25:55 In what ways might your obedience or disobedience impact those in your immediate circle of relationships? Second John reminds us not only of the dangers of falling away from the truth, but also the importance of making obedience a priority in our lives, both for ourselves and for those most important to us. That's Chuck Swindoll. So moving on to third John, And I spent 75% of my time on that one. So, we're we're going to kind of fly through this one kind of quick.

26:28 I'm going to give you some highlights. Third John, the elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. For I was very glad when brethren came and bore witness to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this to hear of my children walking in the truth.

26:50 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, especially when they are strangers, and they bear witness to your love before the church, and you will do well to send them on their way in a matter worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support such men that we may be fellow workers with the truth. I wrote something to the church, but Theotrophes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds, which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words and not satisfied with this, neither does he himself receive the brethren, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.

27:32 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. The one who does good is of God the one who does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our witness is true. I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing to write them to you with pen and ink.

27:52 But I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be with you. The friends greet you. Excuse me. Greet the friends by name.

28:00 So, we notice a lot of similarities, right? A lot of similarities, which I won't belabor the similarities, but to point out the opposite end of the spectrum that he's writing to Gaius. The main focus here, again, is love and truth. And how love and truth are supposed to be reflected in the decisions that we make personally, and decisions that the church makes. He mentions three people.

28:55 He had been walking the walk of faith. He was living the truth. As John comments in his second epistle, Gaius is living that life, just as the ladies' children were. He talks about the importance here of the importance of supporting the missionaries and the traveling preachers, and how important it is to show them hospitality and to provide them, to provide for their needs, those that are working full time for the sake of Christ. However, Gaius, though he was very mature in his faith and was walking in truth, must have had some sort of physical ailment, or at least his physical status wasn't quite up to par with where he was spiritually.

29:49 And he is praying that his physical health become more like his spiritual health. And there's a couple things we need to point out here. That this verse is mistranslated in the KJV because the KJV says, I wish above all things that you may be well, etcetera. And we can't possibly take that literally because being well and prosperous can't possibly be the highest achievement. We should not be striving to attain that.

30:24 But the Greek word there is, it's a preposition peri. And it's not really above everything, but it's just concerning or about. So the, this is the new American standard that I'm reading from. I pray that in all aspects, may prosper and be in good health. It's not that above all else, hope that you are well.

30:45 So, let's let's be careful with that. That's not the ultimate goal of of the believer. But he's praying for God's work to be fruitful in his life. He's recognizing that Gaius is very mature and he's living that walk. He's really living and practicing what he preaches and he wants the fruit of the spirit to blossom more.

31:10 It's not material possessions that he's wishing that Gaius would have. And this this does fly in the face of the prosperity gospel in a couple of ways. So if the prosperity gospel were true, then he would already be blessed and would have the material possessions and would have this great life because John's recognizing how good his spiritual state is. But then he's saying, I wish you were well, because he must have some sort of physical. His physical's not quite up to par where he is spiritually.

31:45 And then Ray spoke at the last week, the last chapter of first John five, talking about... Let me find it. Hold on. I said fourteen and fifteen. So first John five, this is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

32:13 And if we know that He hears us in whatever He asks, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. And Ray also talked about... He made mention of how Paul also talks about sickness and death being as a result of one's spiritual state. When Paul writes in one Corinthians to those that were not taking of the Lord's Supper honorably, some of you are sick and some of you have fallen asleep. And Ray also mentioned Ananias and Sapphira, who lied about money that they had received, and God struck them down.

32:51 So here we've got the flip side of that. So yes, while God can inflict us physically for an unconfessed sin, Gaius is over here and John is saying, I'm commending you for the walk that you're walking. I'm commending you for the life you're living. I'm commending you for your spirituality. And yet, you're suffering in some way that's not mentioned.

33:18 And so it kind of flies in the face of the self healers that you're sick, you must be sinning, if you just confess to God, you're going to get better, and all of that sort of thing. And while it can be, it's not a set in stone. You only get sick if you've been sinning and that sort of thing. You're not prospering because you've been sinning. That's not necessarily what you can make as a blanket statement.

34:07 So it's not just having... And it's interesting that we had a little thing today for Morris's and for Mrs. Ming. But it wasn't just to give them a send off. It was, you know, when these preachers are here, these missionaries are with you, and you give them a bed for the night, you give them a meal, send them off.

34:27 Give them what they need. Supply for their needs. Give them food for the journey. Give them money for the journey. Give them what they need to further the work of God.

34:36 We're supposed to be supporting them. That's where they get their support from. And he says, in, verse seven, for they went out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. This also kind of comes back to the television preacher and the religious profiteering bit. These missionaries were taking nothing from the unbelievers.

34:58 They received all of their support from the churches. That's because by taking money from the outsiders, it communicates a couple of things. One is that God is a bit shortsighted regarding his people's needs and his workers' needs, which we know cannot be true. And also by allowing an unbeliever to finance a missionary means that now this unbeliever has has done a good work for the Lord. And it helps to convey the message that you do enough of these good things and heaven will happen, which we also know is completely not true.

35:45 And so it's not wise to give that sort of message. And when other unbelievers see that the church is being financed by the outside rather than within, then what's wrong with the people that are sitting in there? So they need support from the outside instead of getting it from God and from within. And that's an important thing that we need to note. He does talk about diatrophies next.

36:14 Diatrophies was a, as near as we can tell, he was an elder, whether he was self appointed or he was originally appointed as an elder, and then it went all to his head. And this is something that speaks to us the dangers of the monarchial government in the church and how dangerous it can be. Theatrophes made himself the leader of the church. He was arrogant about his position. He refused others to come into the church to teach.

36:56 The ones that had the true doctrine, the traveling preachers. He didn't let them in. And those that wanted to show hospitality, he kicked them out. Because he was so caught up in himself and he wanted only, you know, maybe he was citing the autonomy of the local church, and we're supposed to, you know, only teach here. Maybe he was trying to cite that.

37:18 But he's the only one that's supposed to be speaking. He's the only one that, you know, has the the spirit of god that should be talking. Or, you know, maybe he was afraid that these other true, the the preachers that taught true doctrine would come in, see how he was acting, and call him out on it. Maybe he was afraid of that too. So maybe he even knew it.

38:19 He's continued to grow in Christ. He mentions Demetrius. Again, he wants he he wants more than anything to see Gaius in person and to disciple and fellowship with him in person. This letter is not enough. This letter is not enough.

38:39 And and we we should... I I would encourage us to try to do that more. It's it's tough today, especially when, you know, those of us in this room here are from such a wide geographical circle. It's not really the way it used to be when you you... You'd have an assembly that met kind of in a village or a town or a city and you all kind of lived there together.

39:03 I know that we have that luxury as it were today. But just to encourage that communication and while sending that little text can mean a world of difference to somebody that really needs it, one of our fellow brothers and sisters. But to encourage you to go beyond that and maybe make it a phone call or make it an email and spread some more out because it really does speak more volumes and it can be more beneficial to both parties if we're more... If we can be more verbal and more encouraging and more personable in that way. To close out, I've got another quote from Chuck Swindoll.

39:49 How do you show hospitality to other Christians, particularly those who serve you and others in your local church and at churches around the world? Showing hospitality to others, particularly strangers, requires a level of trust and acceptance that is not necessarily required of us in our everyday lives. It forces us to rely on a common bond in Jesus Christ rather than a particular blood relationship or shared experience. It forces us out of our comfort zones and into a territory where we must place our trust in God. John used words such as love and truth to describe this kind of living, and he used a negative example of diatrophies to illustrate the dangers of going down a different path.

40:28 We have a responsibility as Christians to live according to the truth we find in the life and ministry of Jesus and to care for those and support those who serve God's people. Our Lord was surrounded by people who took care of him. Third John teaches us that we should do the same for those who carry on the teaching of Jesus in our own day. Let's bow with prayer. Father, once again, we come before you.

41:32 In Christ's name, amen.