Thursday Night Study (2 John)

II John

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“Love In Truth” •  5.28.20  •  Calvary Christian Fellowship, Thursday Night Study (Covid-19 #15)

Intro.

Text

• 2 John 1-3 : " The Elder, to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love." : John is by all means, the Elder, if not the Eldest of the church of Ephesus! Of course, the title doesn't have anything to do with age, though John was aged.

- John's title is related to a "presbytery." This is a title of oversight, one that is synonymous in most people's minds with that of a Bishop.

- Imagine a group of churches, all with their own teaching Pastors, who had John as a centralized resource to draw from? What an incredibly rich heritage to have!

- At the end of the first century, the church is seeing a discernible hierarchichal structure beginning to develop. John is the last of the Apostles, martyred eventually by long life!

- Some wonder why it is that we attribute this letter to John, when he doesn't give his name. When you read through the content, if you've been studying along with us, it will feel familiar.

- II John's style and tone are very similar to his gospel and the Epistle that we have just finished studying. Add to that, 2nd century church Fathers attributed this writing to the Apostle.

- John is writing to an unnamed lady, noting only her election and her children. There are many who believe that he is writing to a literal woman, with literal children.

- Others believe that this is a literal woman with spiritual children, ie., a home church hostess.

- I'd suggest that John is actually writing to a church, using a sort of code name to protect the recipients from present persecution. As we read through, I believe, it will be fairly obvious.

- While all Christians are chosen, elected by God unto salvation by His own foreknowledge, the church especially, as a whole is His own elect lady, His bride!

- Those that are within her proverbial walls are His children. There are no grandchildren or near relatives. God only has children. Those who believe upon His Son are given the right of entry!

- The church is chosen by God and loved by the Apostle. He loves her in truth. This is a key element to this epistle, the combination of love and truth.

- In our day and age, it seems that we have adopted a philosophy that pits truth against love. The world seems to believe that you cannot express both at the same time!

- John's first letter was all about love. His second letter reveals how that love operates.

- John loves the church in truth, some versions translate it "the truth." He loves her because that attribute is what God bears in the heart of His children. God's true people love His church!

- To address a woman in this way would have been really edgy for a first century man. It's not at all odd for an Apostle!

- John loves the church along with all the others in the world that had embraced the truth of Christ! That truth abides in us as Christians. His truth grows as it settles in our hearts!

- Our appreciation for the truth of His word expands as our lives are touched by it's wisdom! Our relationship to His word will continue this expansion, even on into eternity!

- This is why our kinship and the companionship often transcends human familial bonds.

- The communion that true believers have with one another can only be experienced in this life by those who belong to the Lord, who are guided by His truth!

- Jesus, in His prayer to the Father that we examined in John 17, called out for Him to sanctify His disciples by the truth. One phrase later, He said, "Your word is truth!" (John 17:17)

- This is why our bond, properly administered, grows to such a wonderful proportion. It will forever be the basis for our enjoyment of God's character!

- Incidentally, may I also let you know that if the word of God is not central to your life, your enjoyment of God and His people will be severely, perhaps even fatally limited!

- Some Christians are starving for true nourishment of their souls and that comes from hearing, loving and obeying the word! I pray that these things are said of each of you!

- John concludes his introduction with what is used only one other time in I Timothy. Most have believed it to be reserved for workers with a pastoral ministry: "Grace, Mercy and Peace!"

- Whoever you are, and in whatever church you attend, you need to be acquainted with God's grace, mercy and peace! He is the One who dispenses it along with His Son, Jesus Christ.

- We have these wonderful traits from Him, through Him and ultimately for Him!

- To have these values in any measure is the lot of Christians throughout time. To have them in abundant measure is the NEED for anyone who administers God's way to His people!

- When a person greeted another with "grace," they were saying in effect, "May you have a better day than you deserve!"

- When they greeted with "mercy," they were saying, "May you not have the day that you deserve!" "Peace" was a way of saying, "May you do well no matter the day you are in!"

- The beautiful thing is that God wants us to be growing in the appreciation of these virtues more than we believe we have need of them! All we need to do is ask! Verse 4.

• 2 John 4 : "I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father." : "I rejoiced greatly."

- That is saying a lot for a man nearing his 90's! The phrase speaks of elation and overwhelming satisfaction. What could prompt that from such an aged man?

- It seems that John came across a group of believers that belonged to this fellowship. He "found" them. One of the definitions intones surprise.

- This was an unexpected meeting, making the occasion that much more joyous! This has happened many times to me. I've come across people that I used to see at church every week.

- Just seeing them is wonderful and there is always an occasion for laughter and joy at seeing them. But here is where John really took off emotionally. He discovered them walking in truth!

- There is almost nothing better for a minister, than to find this exact thing happening! The joy that one feels is simply overpowering! I recently came across this Proverb in my daily reading.

• Proverbs 23:15,16 : "My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice! Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right." : This could be my own heart's cry for you! I celebrate when you think, speak and live what is right in the Lord!

- When John describes what it means to "walk in truth," he speaks of the same commitment to God that they had recieved! "These kids have the same faith that we have always held!"

- There was an undiluted transference between their faith and the faith that was being exhibited in these children of hers. That is truly the goal of each Pastor and Parent.

- We won't know if we have succeeded in transferring our faith until our grandchildren believe as we have! That's the goal!

- But, I would be derelict in my duty if I didn't point this very important word out: Some!

- John's comment isn't meant to mean that and I will only digress momentarily. John could have met all of them and still only found "some" of them walking in the truth!

- In this world, our joy at "some" walking in the truth is only heightened by the fact that even the most godly churches are not guaranteed that all their spiritual children will walk in the truth!

- I've been impressed over the last few times that I have read the Bible, just how random this phenomena seems to be. Godly people aren't guaranteed godly children!

- The prophet Samuel's sons were nothing like him. They were known to take bribes and pervert justice. (I Samuel 8:3)

- What about David's kids? Amnon raped Tamar, Absalom killed Amnon and Adonijah sought to wrest the Kingdom out of the hand of Solomon!

- I don't want to discourage you, but I want you to know that there is a reason for John's joy. Not every person will respond positively to the work of God in their life.

- Not every member of every church will be found to be truly walking in the truth of God's word!

I pray that you hear what I am saying! It is very easy to become used to hearing truth.

- Your goal should not be simply to hear it. You must commit to seeing it lived out in your life!

- This makes John's surprise and his subsequent joy that much more pronounced. Because not every child will respond, the ones that do overwhelmingly touch out hearts!

- We will pray that all our kids believe, but it's the "some" who will really make our heart sing for joy! The ones that truly trust in the truth will be our greatest blessings. Verse 5.

• 2 John 5,6 : "And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it." : John the Elder essentially begs this church to consider his plea. This is the nature of all Christian service.

- John is an elder in their church, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, and an author of scripture. He is the oldest living witness to the events of Christ's life!

- Yet, when he really wants to see something take place, he is reduced to begging!

- Pastors today believe that they can pull rank and exert Apostolic authority. If the Apostles themselves didn't treat the people of God this way, how can we justify acting differently!

- You and I will never outgrow being each other's servants! If I demand something of you, I know nothing of John or Paul's gentleness.

- No, friends, I join with these men in begging you to live rightly before God! I beg you, as John begs this woman here, to look at this commandment as if it were the first time you heard it!

- This is what John was doing with them! Here is the commandment that he refreshes in her mind, the exact same one that they had accepted from the beginning: Love one another!

- Why would John need to repeat this? Because by nature, we are unloving! We enjoy our isolation. We love ourselves. We are selfish people!

- We need to be told over and over again, to be reminded that we have not achieved a state of perpetual love! It needs to be continually refreshed by practice!

- We don't need any new truth! We need new experiences in the old truth! This church needed to hear this again and so do you!

- John, with conviction and without shame, commands her for the millionth time with the same zeal that he had when he spoke to her for the first time! "Love one another!"

- Even at the age John was at, I know that these words meant even more to him because he remembered who it was who said them! Jesus, the One who demonstrated the totality of love!

- For us, our love would be a shadow of what His was. It's almost a crime to compare it!

- He obeyed His Father even unto the death of the cross. We obey the commandments that the Lord has left us, to the death of ourselves! Yet, this is how we honor Him!

- We walk in His commandments. The word of God is the guide to our way of life! What we have heard from the beginning is what we must walk in continually. Why is that important? Verse 7.

• 2 John 7: "For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist."

- You and I as Christians must commit ourselves to walk in what we have already known because this world is filled with deceivers.

- The word "deceiver" comes from a word which relates a wandering, roving imposter. It could have been used by the Greeks to describe what we once called a "tramp."

- Today, our equivalent word might be "con man." These deceivers have entered into the world's arena, bringing their false ideas and notions of spirituality.

- Their primary doctrinal fault was to deny the humanity of Jesus Christ! Why would they deny this pivotal doctrine? What did they have to gain?

- This would be to their advantage, as these men sought to teach other men that the body of a person could never be sanctified. Because of it's appetites, it could never serve God.

- This was the precise point of the Incarnation: Jesus modeled for us what a life guided by the Holy Spirit could look like! The Holy Spirit could inhabit a person and could keep them from sin!

- Jesus is the prototype, the first of a new created order, whose life is disseminated to those that He deems to share it with! These Gnostics weren't merely mistaken or misguided.

- They were imposters who were given over to an antichrist spirit. They wanted to present something instead, or in the place of Christ!

- They wanted to bring something new to the table, to mix the concept of Christ with other ideals that were far more palatable to the consumer of their day!

- That antichrist spirit is alive and well in our day! We would be wise to consider this. Verse 8.

• 2 John 8,9 : "Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son." : Because deceivers are coming we need to look to ourselves! Virtually every other translation employs the phrase, "Watch yourself!"

- John commands her to always be on the lookout, to beware! I don't want you to go away today with a complex or in paranoia, but a healthy reminder that deceivers want to deceive you!

- Don't be fooled and don't be naive! Remember the heritage of the Ephesian church!

- They had great teaching. They had a living witness to the life of Christ and THEY were in danger of being deceived! We are not nearly as spiritually grounded! Let us be doubly aware!

- On the negative side, we don't want to lose ground. We don't want the things that we have worked for to be destroyed! How quickly can this take place? How easy is it to take a misstep?

- How many times have I watched a seemingly grounded Christian begin to acknowledge a false teacher on some basis of truth, only to find their theology eventually completely warped!?

- Don't give up the sure ground! Your faith has been established in truth. Be sure that you are MILITANT about where your feet go next! There is always a need to keep ourselves in the truth!

- On the positive side, we want to receive a full reward from the Lord! The idea is a payment for service. God intends to honor those that have honored Him.

- Those who live in the truth, who remain loyal to the truth, will be rewarded. That's the truth!

- We have to hold on and stay the course because there is a danger that we won't! "Whoever transgresses." This is widely interpreted throughout all of the major translations.

- The NASB: "anyone who goes too far;" the NLT: "anyone who wanders away;" the NIV: "anyone who runs ahead," the CSB: "does not remain;" and the ESV: "who goes on ahead."

- Isn't that interesting!? The running theme is that there is a pace that is set for a Christian that they are to keep to!

- We aren't to lead out ahead, wander around, find a new way to forge outside of abiding, settling in the doctrines which teach us about and lead us toward Christ!

- If we do, as the Gnostics and all of the cults do, we neither have, nor will we ever have God while in that condition! You can't have God without a proper understanding of Christ!

- To remain in Christ assures us of our relationship to the Father. This church knew this, but was being warned anyway because John could see the deceivers headed her way! Verse 10.

• 2 John 10,11 : "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds." : If anyone comes or ends up coming to you without a confession of Christ in His humanity, they were not to be received.

- In these days, churches would meet on a weekly basis and enjoy the Lord's supper together. Generally, they would eat, sing and receive a teaching from one of their elders or Pastors.

- There were also itinerant, travelling ministers that would take to the various cities, some with letters of commendation, who would enter a fellowship in order to minister within it.

- Before the advent of hotels and motels, the church would take on the responsibility of housing these ministers. They would welcome and "greet" him.

- That word, in their mind and culture, isn't like it is in ours. It required much more attention.

- This not only meant giving them a place to stay and food to eat, but provisions of food and sometimes money when they departed! This wasn't new or in any way inappropriate.

- This was in practice 30 years prior when Paul was traveling, expecting to be sent to Spain.

- He expected to be "helped by them" on his way (Romans 15:22-24) and he expected them to do the same for the woman who brought his letter to them! (Romans 16:1,2)

- A Christian doing this for a Christian worker brings a blessing! We may not be able to "go," but we delight in being able to send!

- We partner in that way with the ones who are going out, teaching and leading others to Christ! To show them love is natural and completely in order.

- That is not the way we are to act when we encounter false teachers! They aren't even to be welcomed, much less given a platform to speak or teach their wicked doctrines!

- This doesn't mean that if you have unbelieving or even cult following relatives, that you shouldn't have them to dinner. Neither does this mean that you shouldn't be polite to a Mormon.

- The idea here is that if they are near your home, you only allow them there for the purpose of teaching THEM the gospel! They aren't to exert any influence over the people under your roof!

- What most people have learned about these cults is that they are never there to learn! They are there to indoctrinate! They must never be allowed to begin!

- To bless them, or serve them financially in any way is to be an accomplice in the evil that is their mission! Why is it evil? Don't the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, et all, promote good things?

- Not when those good things lead a person away from the true Jesus! The church in Ephesus needed to be sure that their love did not violate the truth! Verse 12.

• 2 John 12,13 : "Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full. The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen." : John's expectation was that he would see these people soon and finish what he had started.

- Some things are better coming from our mouth than coming from our pens. I've often noted that a text or an email, just fails to get the point across. A few words in person beats a million written!

- For John, it would be worth the wait to fully explain how to approach these situations, revealing by his face, the depth of understanding for their potential error.

- Their mutual understanding, their continual commitment to the guarding of their faith, would issue in the greatest measure of their joy! That's what John wanted!

- God does not want His people confused by false doctrines. We already have everything that could ever need or desire in Christ! There isn't a system on this planet that could offer more!

- In fact, the only thing that Man made religion can do is offer us a very poor imitation!

- Those who are caught in the clutches of cultish belief are slaves. You and I, in Christ, are sons and daughters, free to live in love and truth!

- He closes by letting them know that their sister church greeted them! They weren't alone in this fight for the faith! Their loving sister was right there with them!

Conclusion
- You and I are called to love, but that love that looks out for the best interest of it's object, can only operate as intended when it honors the boundaries of truth!

- Our greatest joy is connected to the truth of who Jesus Christ is, the God Man, who loved us according to the truth of His Father and made a way for us to be His blood relatives.

- If you know this to be true, stay true to it! Be invested in it. Be firm in your commitment to it! That's how you will bless those who oversee you. That is how we will share in His joy forever!