Love in Truth, Know the Truth, for the Sake of the Truth, in Truth & Love | 2 John 1-3

Exegetical Preaching and the Need for Context

Okay, beloved, let's go ahead and turn this time over to the letter of 2nd John. John's second letter. That small one chapter letter right after 1st John. 2nd John. We're going to read verses 1 through 3.

2nd John. The elder to the elect 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. Amen. Amen. This is what an amazing passage to start out with today. So, the goal, as you can see, the goal now, I finished preaching through 1st John, the previous Lord's Day, and now we're going to embark on this journey of 2nd John.

Obviously, it's a very small letter. I believe it's only 13 verses, about a chapter long. But it packs a very powerful and exclusive one, two, truth and love punch. Beloved, it's a very powerful letter.

It's small, but it packs a very powerful punch. And I just, before I, when I preached on 1st John, I also kind of gave this introduction, and I want to give it to us by way of reminder today, since I'm starting this new letter, as to what biblical preaching is.

It's important for us to understand what biblical preaching is. And in short, biblical preaching is to explain the text faithfully. To explain or unpack the text faithfully. In other words, a technical term is exegesis.

To draw the meaning out of the text. The correct meaning from the text. As opposed to eisegesis, which is to force a foreign meaning into the text. It's not, that's not right. That's an abuse of God's word.

It's to exegete, it's to draw out of. And that's what Christ himself said that he does of the Father. He exegetes the Father. He reveals the Father, like in John chapter 1, the fourth gospel. Now, in addition to that, it explains the text faithfully within both its immediate context and its whole counsel of God context, right?

The whole counsel of God context. It shouldn't contradict either one. Either the immediate context or the whole canonical context of the Old and New Testaments. But in addition to that, it is also to expound and to connect the theology and the doctrines that it teaches.

That the letter or the passage or the verse teaches us. It is to expound and to connect the theology and doctrines that it teaches. It's not just knowing what it says, but what it teaches, right? What does it teach?

And in addition to that, it is also to rightly apply the text. To rightly apply it within our context. What does it mean for us as believers in this last and evil day? So that's another aspect of it. So that being said, I want to give a very important rule of interpretation.

And it's a very simple one, and that is that context matters. Context matters. Not just the biblical context like I mentioned, the immediate and entire biblical context, but also the historical context matters.

Historical context is also very important when seeking to rightly understand the Bible. As you all may know, there's over 40 authors in the Bible. We just finished watching many of the What's in the Bible series.

Very highly recommended series for kids. Spans over 40 authors and I believe over two millennia. Over 2 ,000 years or more. Actually more. Like more years. And so thousands of years in between the very first book and the very last book written.

And so there's a historical context to all of those circumstances. And there's covenantal context as well. Old and new covenants, etc. So that's extremely important to bear in mind. And also, like I regularly have mentioned and preached on before, we have to remember the two analogies, right?

The two analogies for interpreting God and his word and his doctrine. It is the analogies of scripture and of faith. The analogy of scripture and the analogy of faith, which also would include the law and gospel distinction.

The analogy of scripture is simply what does scripture teach? What does it teach? And we understand what it teaches in part by interpreting it with other parts of scripture that are clear at times. And the analogy of faith is to properly teach the doctrines that the scriptures teach us.

One of which is that principle of the law and gospel distinction. And that's an important question to ask ourselves now. This passage in 2 John 1 -3, I'll read it again. Now, is this passage law or gospel?

Is it a law or gospel passage? Look at all of the important descriptions and key words in this passage, and the answer should become quite evident. So think about that as we continue unpacking this passage.

And of course, applying the text is very important. And that's one of the main things that distinguishes preaching from teaching. Preaching also seeks not just to teach, it is teaching. You have to teach something when you're preaching.

It's primarily teaching, but it is also applying what you're teaching, the text, to your audience. To your specific audience. So it's both and. After the text is properly understood, right? Because if you don't get the text right, you're probably not going to apply it right.

Right? We have to get both right. And there's an order of precedence there. We have to first understand it and explain it correctly. The application follows. So, and in addition to that, we also want to consider the contributions of the faithful historic church as well.

To understanding the text, the passages, because we shouldn't be coming up with new interpretations that nobody has ever seen before. God's spirit has been moving in the church for two millennium. Longer than that.

So that is important for us to take heed to the church of the living God, the pillar and buttress of God's truth. Not that the church herself is the truth. The church herself is not inspired. God's word is inspired.

And that's why the church is the pillar and buttress of the truth. Because she upholds the truth of God's word. And that includes the historical context. You'll find that it's very fascinating to get the historical context through what the early church taught and witnessed as well.

So you can see from the sermon title, there's a clear emphasis in the sermon title. Love in truth, know the truth for the sake of the truth, in truth and love. In truth and love. That's a powerful message that the apostle is jumping at right away.

Right away. It immediately stands out in this passage. These first few verses. In the introduction to the letter. But in order to get there, I first want to introduce the context of the letter as well as the historical context.

Which will help us to better understand it and to interpret it. Right? There's a key things that we need to work through. We need to look at carefully here. And the first one is actually, we're immediately confronted with twin interpretive questions.

The Elder, the Elect Lady, and the Date of the Letter

Immediately confronted with it. As you might see. In verse one. The elder to the elect lady and her children. The very first phrase there. Confronts us with a question. Right? Who is the elder? Who is the elder?

And who are the elect lady and her children? That's a very important question. The author and the recipients of the letter. Who are they? Who are they? Think about that. Because the letter doesn't say.

The letter does not tell us. Explicitly. Which brings me to this next question of the author of the letter. The recipients of the letter. And the dating of the letter. When it was written. No explicit author is given.

It's just the elder. But it was very likely the same apostle John. To which the letter is attributed. Second John. The son of Zebedee. Who was also the younger brother of James the apostle. Right? They were all part of Christ's inner circle.

They were witnesses of Christ's transfiguration. And both James and John. Christ gave them the name Boanerges. Boanerges. Or Boanerges. Sons of Thunder. In the Gospel of Mark chapter 3 verse 17. They are the sons of thunder.

Right? So that's a pretty cool nickname. To be nicknamed by Christ that way. But it's very likely the same author of first John. The letter that we just went through. The fourth Gospel of John. Right?

The Gospel of John. Third John. Which is going to follow. And the book of Revelation. The Revelation of John. Right? But this is key to keep in mind. The elder. The title elder. The elder. Singular. Suggests that the apostle John wrote this letter.

During the later years of his life. As an elderly man. The apostle John. Here's an interesting fact. Was one of the few apostles that actually lived. To long life. According to the testimony of the early church.

One of the few. Everybody else was martyred. They were persecuted and martyred. So. There are many early church leaders. And I mean early. Early. Like the earliest church leaders. Claim that the apostle John.

Wrote these letters. Many of whom. Many of whom quote them. They quote these letters. These early church leaders. In their own writings. Such as. Papias of Hierapolis. He's from 60 AD. To 130 AD. Polycarp of Smyrna.

69 AD. To 155 AD. Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons. Some of these we've seen before. I've quoted before. In different sermons. He was 155. To 191 AD. Some of these folks didn't live very long. Because like I mentioned.

They were also martyred. Clement of Alexandria. Not of Rome. There's another Clement of Rome. But this is not that one. Clement of Alexandria. He was 147 AD to 215 AD. So all of these men. Were early church leaders.

From the first and second centuries. First and second centuries. Okay. And there's others. But these are some of the key ones. And another fun fact here. Is that. Several of these. Historical witnesses and testimonies.

Of the early church. Are recorded by. A man named Eusebius. Eusebius. He was the Bishop of Caesarea. Right. The Bishop of Caesarea. He was from 260 AD. So he's still third century. To 340 AD. He wrote a very famous well known work.

Known as the ecclesiastical history. Ecclesiastical is another word for church. Church history. He is known as the father. Of church history. And I highly recommend his work to you. Very interesting stuff.

There's a lot of important. References to the early church. That are not recorded anywhere else. He also refers to works. And writings. That we no longer have. They were lost to the pages of time. Right.

So it's a fascinating work. It's a very important work. And he refers to many of these. Testimonies there. Now. One of the. A very good scholar. Protestant scholar. By the name of FF Bruce. He has this to say.

About the title. The elder. He says that the elder. Is a senior man. Who because of his age. And experience and authority. Was referred to in this way. As the elder. The elder. And it's interesting to note.

That this was a common usage. In the early church. The early church frequently referred to. Men of authority. Experience and age and wisdom. As the elder. The elder. It's a title of honor. And respect.

And. FF Bruce also. Explains here very helpfully that. In the circle. In which he was best known. He was given the affectionate. And respectful title. The elder. Both because he was older. Than the other members of the circle.

And because his personal knowledge. Of the way. Went back so much farther than theirs. Right. He was a seasoned saint. He was a seasoned saint. And in this case. An apostolic leader. He was an apostolic leader.

One of the original apostles. The twelve. If to them. He was the elder. To him. To him. They may well have been. His little children. Little children. Just as the anonymous author. Of first john. Calls his readers remember that.

When I preached through first john. We saw numerous times. That this is one of the apostles. Favorite terms of endearment. Children little children. Right. Although there's a distinction here. Between first and second john.

That is worth pointing out. In first john. The apostle refers to his readers. As my little children. In first john two one. My little children. Right. And as little children throughout the letter. But.

In second john. He refers to his readers as. The elect lady. And her children. Her children. In verse one. And to your children. In verse four. Your children. And concludes by referring to. The children.

Of your elect sister. Right. So in verse thirteen. So he doesn't use any personal pronouns. This time in this letter. Not my children. Not even little children. So that's an interesting distinction there to point out.

That may give some clue. And some insight as to what. Who he's referring to. Now. As for the dating. Of the letter. The dating of the letter. When it was written. Is usually tied. To the dating of the fourth gospel.

To the dating of the fourth gospel. And also early church. Witnesses and testimonies. And. The gospel. Is usually. Understood to have been written first. Before all the other letters. Of John. And. And.

The gospel. Is purported to have been written. As early as 70 A .D. Or before that. Before the destruction of the temple. Or as late as 85 A .D. Around there. 80 to 85 A .D. And second John. Was likely written shortly.

After the fourth gospel. And first John. Because. It seems to assume familiarity with both. The letter and the gospel. And it refers to teachings. That are more fully explained. And expanded in those writings.

Right. We already saw this in the first few verses. He's referring to the same things. Pointing out the same things. As in first John. And in his gospel. So. That's important to take. Into consideration.

And. Also. Based on the letters of Ignatius. Another early church. Leader. Polycarp and Irenaeus. As well as the others above. That I mentioned. And their own criticisms of similar. Gnostic false teachings.

That were more developed. Than what John's letters describe. And address. Including second John. He addresses that in this letter as well. In verses seven through eight. At least. And on. So given that being the case.

The suggested dates. It gives us a window of time. To where this was likely written. And that's probably the early 90's A .D. The early 90's. A .D. Sometime. Shortly after the gospel. And the first letter was written.

The Destination Mystery and the Elect Lady

Now. This brings me to the next. Heading of the sermon here. And that is. Destination mystery. Destination mystery. That sounds like a amusement park ride. Or something but. Why do I say that? Well it's like.

It's what we've already seen. Previously. Very similar to first John. This second letter. Is also very enigmatic. It's enigmatic. Mysterious. That's what it means. Mysterious. Even more so. Than first John in some ways.

And that's because. There's no clear reference. Not just the author. But also the audience. Or even the destination. Like the address. Where is this going to? Who is it intended for? Who exactly. Are the elect lady.

And her children. Where are they? Who are they and where are they? Is it referring to an actual. Christian woman. And her children. Or is it. A symbolic reference of some sort. Is it referring to a church.

And it's members. So there's competing. There's different interpretations. That some have taken. Regarding. The recipients. And the letter. So think about those things. Who is this referring to? Now that being said.

There are some. Including in the early church. Who suggest. That the elect lady. Might refer to the. Actual name of the woman. It might be an actual name. So in other words. The elect Kyria. The elect Kyria.

And if you note that word. The Greek word is. Kuria. In Greek is the feminine. Form of the word. Kurios. Which means lord. Right. It's the feminine form of the word. Kurios or lord. So lady. It's a title of.

Like a royalty. Like a high title of. Majesty. Royalty. Lord and lady. So. That's important. That's interesting. But or. Let. This is less likely the case. Some also think that it's called. That her name is the lady electa.

The lady electa. But this is not. So likely because. The same word for elect. Is used in verse 13. As an adjective. Not as a proper name. The elect sister right. It's the same word. So it doesn't really make sense.

That it would be. She would be called electa. When it's using the same word as an adjective. The elect sister. Not as a name. However. Now. Some people purport that. But. There is no specific. Or individual description.

Or characteristics of this woman. Anywhere in the letter. At all. We have no idea. Who she is. If it is a woman. Being referred to. A specific woman being referred to here. Apart from her being a mother.

To her children right. That's the only thing we know about her. If that's the case. And but now. Keeping that in mind. This is in sharp contrast. To third john right. Because third john. Has vivid. Specific thumbnail sketches.

Of individuals. Like gaius. Who is the recipient of the third letter. And of diatrophies. Who was a very bad guy. Right the usurper. The reviling usurper. Of the church there. At the time. And Demetrius.

Both of whom the author also has. Very particular things to say about. Right. So he's describing these individuals. In the significant detail. But he doesn't say anything about this woman. Besides her children.

And so. And her children. Walking in the truth. So. Very important to keep in mind here. The net bible. Also has a very helpful. Clarifying translators note. They explain that. The internal evidence. Of second john.

Clearly supports a collective reference. That is a reference. Not to an individual woman. But to a. A body of people. Like a church. To a church. Rather than to a specific individual. In verse six. The addressee is mentioned.

Using the second person plural. It's in the plural form. Not singular. And this is repeated. In verses eight. And ten. And twelve. So the you. The you is plural. In the greek. And this is very easy to miss.

In our english translations. Because we don't distinguish anymore. The plural. The plural you and ye. Like we sing in the hymn today. The hymn that we sing. That refers to ye. My apologies. I'm losing sight of the correct one here.

That's because it's the wrong bulletin. There you go. In older english. There's a difference between you. Singular and ye plural. Ye chosen seed of Israel's race. Ye ransomed from the fall. You all. You all who are chosen.

And that's also actually. Pointing to a similar theme. In this introduction to this. Letter of second john. So that's important as well. To know and to keep in mind. We cannot ignore these things. And it's.

It helps us to have a better. Understanding of. Who the apostle is referring to. Only in verse thirteen. Does the singular. Form reappear. So it's in verse one. And then in verse thirteen. But even then.

The uses in. Both verse one and thirteen. Are most likely collective as well. Not individual. Some have seen. A reference to the church at large. The universal church in other words. All of God's chosen people.

Collectively. But verse thirteen. Refers to the children. Of your elect sister. Which doesn't really make sense. If it's referring to the universal church. Why would you also point out your sister. Your elect sister.

Thus the most probable explanation. Is that the elect lady. Is a particular local church. It's a local church. At that time. At some distance. Where the author is located. Right. That's the most likely scenario.

Given all of this. Much of this contextual. Background. And understanding of the letter itself. And. FF Bruce also. Has a good explanation of this. He says. He explains here that. The elect lady. More likely refers to a local church.

And by the way. As a side note here. It's an important side note. The word for elect. Elect lady. And elect sister. Is the word. Eclectos. Eclectos. Like. Which is very similar for the word. Church. The word for church in Greek is.

Ecclesia. Ecclesia. It's the same root word. So that's another interesting thing to know. So it's not the church. Catholic or universal. Catholic being universal. Because the Catholic church. Would have no sister in that case.

It's everybody. Everybody's already included in the universal church. So then. Her children. Are the members of that church. That local church. That's who her children is referring to in this case. And the children.

Of her elect sister. Are the members. Of the local church in the place. Where the writer himself is residing. Right. So okay. That makes some sense there. That's making more sense. That's important to know.

The Probable Location in Ephesus and Asia Minor

So now I think. This helps us to bring things. A little bit better together. In understanding the argument. The context of the letter. This leads us now. To the destination of the letter. The address of the letter.

The location. And this is more difficult to do. We can really just make. Inferences at best. But there are some clues. That we can use. Thanks in large part to the testimony. Of the early church. And of.

On the testimonies of men like. Bishop. Bishop Polycrates. Bishop Polycrates. Of Ephesus. He was from. 130 to 196 AD. So second century. And others as well. Like Irenaeus. Eusebius and Jerome. They kind of.

They have some biographical details about. John and. The people he addressed in his letters. So according to them. The apostle John. Moved to Ephesus. During the Jewish war. Which was from 66 to. Through 70 AD.

Which culminated in the destruction of the temple. Against the Romans. And. John spent the later years of his life. There. In Ephesus. And he purportedly died of old age. In Ephesus. Which is why he's referred to as the elder as well.

And this was after. After his exile to the isle of Patmos. I used to think that. John died in exile. In Patmos. And that might be a different view. There's different views of what happened to John. Because the details are not very.

They're not very clear. But this seems to be the most likely. Case of the apostle John. Where he ended up. In his old age in Ephesus. So then. These letters. Including second John. May have been written to local churches.

In the area of Ephesus. In the area of Ephesus. And may have been circulated. Throughout the region. Of spanning the seven churches. Of revelation. All of which are located in Asia Minor. Thyatira. Smyrna.

Ephesus. All of these churches are located in Asia Minor. That region. Okay. So that's another. Other important things to consider. Now this brings us to the style. Purpose and content of the letter. This is where we start to see many more.

The Style, Purpose, and False Teachers of Second John

Parallels to first John. Similarities to first John. Second John. Second John. Follows first John very closely. In his style. His diction. The content. The common themes and contrasts. In both letters.

But in second John. There's a more localized focus. Because he's addressing a specific. Local group of people. Church. And. Second John. Is also more like a typical letter. Of that time. Than first John was.

Because in second John. There's an actual salutation. And a greeting. An address to a particular church. Or individual. And a farewell. There's also a farewell. That was more common. In the letters of that day.

First John has none of that. Right. And so. The greeting however. This is fascinating. Remember the question that I asked. Is this a law passage. Or a gospel passage. The greeting. Consider this. Includes an amazing array.

Of gospel promises. Right. Verse two. For the sake of the truth. Which abides in us. And will be with us forever. Amen. 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. Amen. This is a showering of gospel promises. Of truth and love. From God the Father and Jesus the Son. Wow. There's your answer to that question.

And. So. Because of the way the letter is written. It also suggests that this was a circular letter. To be read by several churches as well. And. There is a similar. Interpretive difficulty. Here. As with 1 John.

Because the letter. These letters summarize. They summarize teachings. With categorical statements. That sometimes. Assume or presuppose. A broader understanding. Of other parts of scripture. In particular.

1 John. And the Gospel of John. But several other passages as well. In the Old and New Testaments. This is what is referring. This is why. We hold to the analogy of faith. Because the Bible itself does this.

The writings itself. Refer to other teachings of the Bible. In other places. In addition to quoting other parts of the Bible. It repeats and emphasizes. Several. Of the same key themes. As 1 John does.

And his Gospel does. Now. I like how the Net Bible. Summarizes the purpose of the letter. Of 2 John. The 2 John. Was written to encourage. And to warn. A sister church. Some distance away. Referred to as an elect lady.

Of the missionary efforts. Of the secessionist. False teachers. Also discussed in 1 John. And of the dangers. Of welcoming them. And their teaching. Right? To their homes. Or to the church. Now that raises another question.

Who are these secessionist false teachers? Right? Well the. This. The letter actually does. Explicitly identify as. Antichrist. They are the antichrist. That 1 John also warns against. And about. And they're called secessionist false teachers.

Because they separated themselves. From these true churches. That John is writing to. He's saying watch out for these false teachers. They are schismatics. Secessionists. Separatists. In a bad way. And the secessionist false teachers.

Referred to in John's letters. Were former church members. Of the true churches. Remember? They went out from us. For they were not really of us. If they had remained with us. They would have stayed. If they were of us.

They would have stayed with us. But they went out. That it may be made manifest. That they were never really truly of us. So. They were former church members. Who adopted heretical doctrines about Christ.

They denied the incarnation of Christ. They denied that Jesus is the Christ. The promised Messiah. And so on. And therefore departed. They departed or seceded. From the community. This reference to secession.

Secession is also like in the Civil War. The South seceding from the Union. It's to separate from. As a separate. Separate community. And subsequently organize themselves. With itinerant missionaries.

To spread their false teachings. Among the remaining believers. In the true churches. So that's also extremely important. To consider. The Apostle is taking the time to warn us. Yet again. In another writing.

Against these. Dangerous antichrist. Secessionists and schismatics. Now. That also said. Second John contains many. Of the similar. And the same. Contrasting themes found in First John. That many of which I listed in the.

My introduction to the letter of First John. These are. Walking. Walking in truth and love. Right. I made reference before. John uses the word. In the Greek. Walk your lifestyle. Your walk. Your doctrine and your lifestyle.

Walking in truth and love. Love and obedience. Right. Love and obedience. Truth love obedience. All of which are inseparable. And exclusive. Right. True biblical love is exclusive. It's Jesus alone. There is no love for idols or false teachings.

Which again. The Apostle John repeatedly warns against. Beware against idols. Guard yourselves against idols. And against these heretics. These antichrists. There's no love for them. Because they don't love and believe the truth.

That's the one. That's the one to exclusive punch. Of love and truth. Truth and love. In truth and love. In the greeting. There's that important aspect of it. We cannot separate. Any one of these attributes.

Truth love and obedience. From each other. Biblically they are inseparable. And remember from First John. The acronym that I. That I had mentioned. In First John. Called CAWFS. CAWFS. There's confession of sin.

Which is not so much in Second John. But it is in First John. There's abstaining from sin. Right. Abstaining from sin. And in Second John. Abstaining from the sin of false teachings. Specifically. There's also walking in the light.

Peripateo. Walking in the light or in the truth. In truth and love. There's fellowship. Right. Fellowship with God and his people. Not with antichrist. Do not fellowship with antichrist. With false teachers.

And the final one. S for striving for obedience. Striving for obedience. This is love. To keep his commandments. Like it says in Second John as well. There's also. A common. Important reference. Is to God the father.

To God the son. And to Jesus the Christ. Right. Jesus the Christ. Another theme is truth and error. Or truth and lies. Or truth and deception. Right. From the antichrist. There's also Christ. And antichrists.

Plural in Second John. Antichrists. Who deny the incarnation. Much like the Gnostics. The early Gnostics did. There's also reference to. Not a new commandment. I'm sorry. There's law and commandments.

And gospel and promise. Like in verse three of Second John. Similar to First John. And also not a new commandment. But the one that you had from the beginning. The same phrasing. Is used in First and Second John.

To refer to the commandment. That the apostle is giving them. That you love one another. Right. Love. It's the commandment of love. Assurance is also woven in. Throughout Second John. Just as in First John.

These things I have written to you. That you may know that you have. Eternal life. And what does Second John open up with? For the sake of the truth. Which abides in us. And will be with us forever. Therefore we have assurance.

Of our salvation. Forever. Grace, mercy and peace. Will be with us. And even are with us today. Now. In the here and now. So. Eschatology. As well. Both personal and universal eschatology. Last things.

The final events. Of. The end of time. Right. Second John verse 8 says. See to yourselves. Personally. That you do not lose what we accomplish. That you may receive a full reward. In the end. Right. In the last times.

The last things. The last events. Just like First John. Who warns against the antichrist deceivers. And their false teaching. There is also the common theme of discernment. Discernment of sound doctrine.

And lifestyle. Over and against antichrist. Their false lifestyle. And doctrine. Because they believe that they were without sin. Like First John tells us. There's also holiness. And separation. From the evil secessionist.

False antichrist teachers. Right. Keep yourself separate from them. Do not associate with them. And both letters conclude with similar warnings. Against. The idolatry of false teaching. There are also some key differences.