Truth, Hope And Love

The Gospel of Truth, Love, and Obedience in 2 John

God, we thank you for this day that you've given us. We thank you for your just abundant blessings in our lives father We thank you for your son Jesus Christ that he did come in the flesh father that he came and he he lived a perfect life and died a death in our place and Rescued us from our sin slavery to sin father.

We just pray that How you bless this morning bless our time together our fellowship our worship and song and in giving and in Hearing and preaching of the word father. May you be glorified in all of it and Christ name we pray.

Amen. Oh Good morning. It's my bookmark Laudita made me yesterday. It's an apple tree. So I thought that was cute memories reminds you that uh Adam sinned with eating fruit and I think that was her purpose but anyway Today we're gonna be teaching from second John so if you want to just turn there now and get ready and I was thinking this week.

I was really having a tough time coming over the passage to to teach on and I Was actually mulling around the passage that pastor Mike is preaching on today the Colossians passage, so I'm glad I didn't pick that one Because that would have been bad but You know, I can remember when I used to teach I grew up in a Pentecostal Church and I used to fret and worry About you'd wait for that that earthquake or whirlwind or still small voice and you're gonna preach what I'm gonna preach you're waiting for a new revelation and You know as if the the next Great Awakening just hinged on me on your message that morning, you know and and It's so freeing, you know, you just open the Bible and you believe that God, you know.

You say God I'm gonna preach on this give me understanding. I have your Holy Spirit. Just help me Be faithful to the text. So I you know, I just it's a freeing thought so It's good that I could just say hey second John, you know.

Let's teach on that. I've never I Chose it for a few reasons. First of all, it's God's Word and I think it's valuable and as we know all scriptures God breathe God breathe is profitable for teaching for reproof for correction as it says in Second Timothy, so this is scripture.

It's here God's in his providence handed it down to us. Many times I think I wrote pastor Steve last night. I've never given it more than a cursory reading I've never really just gotten into it. And I think we were honest with ourselves.

We look at these smaller books. You know Philemon and second John third John and we're kind of like small book small truth, you know, it's whatever I don't I don't need that book maybe but I you know as in Philemon it's talking about the sovereignty of God and salvation and the providence of God in our circumstances and How he brought this?

Master and slave you reconcile them back together and use Paul's imprisonment to save the the one there so. In the same way second John deals with some big truths it deals with. You know the nature of Christ his deity.

It deals with the nature of Christian love the truths of the gospel that we believe in it deals with all these things. It's only I think it said like 260 some Greek words in this letter, but it deals with some big things.

So I think it's important that we study it. You know even some commentaries I consulted I read this quote in one of them. That he was talking about. There's not a lot of external support out there saying, you know, who wrote this definitively.

All this sort of thing and he said what external support is there for the second and third epistles of John? Due to their brevity and relatively minor importance in the context of the New Testament. We are not surprised that the evidence is somewhat meager.

In fact, we stand amazed that in the providence of God these short letters are extant and are incorporated in the canon so that's one of our commentators who surprised that we even have this letter that it's even in here, but Again, like Philemon.

I think there's some big doctrines in here and things that are important that we teach and work through. Show second John. I never give him much thought like I said never give any more than a cursory reading.

But I think it's good to study. I enjoyed my study of this. I thought it was great Fascinating book and so we're gonna dive into it and also it's a whole book. So in my short time my short Teaching career I've preached through Philemon and now it's gonna be second John.

So I'm catching up John MacArthur. I'm gaining on you. That's two so You know. Anyway, let's get into some background. The letter was written at the end of the first century. It's probably around 90 to 95 AD they're not sure but It's probably written in quick succession this and third John that closely related.

The church had spread it had grown it had been dispersed from from Israel due to the destruction of Jerusalem and whatnot but this the church is spreading Europe Asia parts of Africa and As it spread as it grew is getting facing new challenges false doctrine false teachers entering the church.

Also some background the Roman Empire was continuing to grow. It hadn't even reached its height of How big it would get that wouldn't happen until early in the second century. And so as the Empire grew You know the systems of roads grew the the relative peace that they enjoyed in the Roman Empire Was also there and there's a common language that united most of the the Empire and so it's often used.

People haven't say that that those factors, you know. The road system the peace the common language that all contributed to the spread of the gospel and that's all very very true. You probably often heard that.

But it also made it easier for the false teachers, too. It was easy for them to travel around and spread their lies and spread their deceptions and this book deals with some of that that. You know these false teachers were in the church they're arising out of the church, you know, they're going out into the world it says.

So while God used these road system everything to propagate his truth and his gospel. It was also being used by the false teachers to spread their their lies. At the time the second John was written. Some different ideas were coming on the scenes.

Gnosticism some early forms of it Was cut we're coming on the scenes. I Just want to ask based on your knowledge, you know, think first John and and what what are some of the the new thoughts? The new false teachings that were coming on the scene at this time.

What were people teaching again? Think first John what? You may have any ideas. All right. Oh pastor Steve has an idea. Exactly Jesus did not come in the flesh. He only appeared that way. They denied that Jesus is the Christ.

They said that Jesus there's this whole, you know platonic dualism, you know good and evil. You know flesh is matter is evil in the spirit world. That's that's good and so you have Jesus who was just some Son of Joseph and Mary born in the flesh and that this mystical Christ being this divine thing descended upon him and.

That they were separate the separate entities they denied. The deity of Jesus Christ the man the the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ being combined in one. Being one person. So that was one of the couple of the Heresies that they were spreading.

Jesus did not come in the flesh. This Jesus that we did have was not the Christ was not the Messiah was not the Son of God was not sent from God. Rather this this Christ thing descended upon him. They also denied like I said, Jesus is the Son of God and that again he did not come in human form.

So those are some of the the heresies that they were throwing about at this time and in this book of 2nd John. It's not like John just threw words in there willy-nilly. He had a purpose for the words.

He had a purpose for the phraseology the phrases that he used. There was a purpose in all of it and it was come to combat some of the ideas of the false teachers. In the in this environment of relative peace ease of travel common language they grew up a culture.

It's a lot different than our own, you know, it's very. People can move from one place to the other relatively easily. I'm only going to mention this because it deals with the issue of hospitality here.

Men going to people going from one place to the other they would have to stay in ends and in ends were not the best Places at this time they're kind of places of ill repute. They're often just glorified brothels, you know, and so a true Christian wouldn't necessarily want to just want to stay there.

You know, they wouldn't want to be in these places. So hospitality was very important in in the sense of inviting people in your home letting them stay in your home. Be fed and have a place to sleep. And so the Christian culture had to adapt in this greater culture.

So that's one of the things dealt with here is hospitality. Hospitality is important today just at this time was magnified the importance of it Christians. They would be traveling they would welcome missionaries they would welcome itinerant preachers into their homes and What could also happen is that this could be exploited these false teachers these deceivers going about they could exploit the people and say we're gonna go and get a free meal and a nice bed and we're gonna go and Use that as a base to spread our lies and spread our deceptions and spread our false teachings.

All right, so That's the context in which John 2nd John was written in which he was dealing with so it deals with hospitality, it's definitely not a Doctrinal treatise it's very much a letter as we're gonna see but again those words there they have a purpose.

They have an objective and we're gonna see that so Let's read the text does anyone want to read this morning? Stand up nice and tall shout it out. Bruce knew I could count on Bruce.

Good whole thing fired out. Nice and loud stop for just a second Bruce.

Anyone want to wager guess what what what's important so far? What what stands out in the first four verses? Truth. Truth. He's mentioned truth five times in four verses at least in the ESV. Go ahead Bruce.

So that's that's the letter. You see it's very much a letter greeting conclusion body deals with several subjects. So it's a letter he's writing to it's debatable who's writing to but anyway, we'll talk about that in a second.

It's it's addressed from the elder. It's addressed from the elder. No name and let me just say that I have no doubt who wrote this. But I just want to see if we can lead you into some questions and get you thinking about the passage.

What does this term mean? Why does he use this manner of greeting? What is the word elder conjure up in your mind? Why does he dress himself as the elder? Authority. He's an authoritative person and. Good anything else you guys think.

Oh you think he's only addressing himself as elder. Why is that? And how can we sure it's who who we think it is must have been known right must be yeah. It's probably John John the Apostle. He was well known if I write it down.

My wife say hey, babe, how's everything going? I'm traveling that that that that the your love. I Don't need to identify myself. Hopefully she knows who it's from right? Hopefully she gets it that you know, I'm writing to her.

So he's probably well known. He didn't feel the need to explicitly identify himself in the letter. They hopefully knew who was coming from. What else can you learn from this term elder? I don't have any elder.

Representing the church. He was probably we have we have qualifications for our elders, right? So he's probably an upstanding person probably lived he met the qualification for other. He's probably also an older person someone who can not only exert authority because of his position but also because of his age and his wisdom and.

So we can learn those things from that. Was he an elder of the church? He was writing to. Probably not so he had not only authority over whatever church he was in but that one as well and MacArthur he also points out that.

You know based on verses 4 through 6 He had a strong personal eyewitness testimony to the life of Jesus. It says here as I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth. Just as you were commanded by the Father and now I ask you dearly to not as though I were writing you a new Commandment but the one we had from the beginning.

That we love one another and this is love that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment just as you have heard from the beginning so that you should walk in it. Sounds like first John.

It sounds like first John where John saying I was with Jesus. I touched him. I saw him with my eyes. I heard him with my ears. This is the commandment I received and so This all points to again. I had no doubt of it.

But I want to see we lead you to an answer that this is the Apostle John. This is him. I mean, he's he's exercising apostolic authority. But why didn't he identify himself? Why don't you just say hey, it's Apostle John just like the Apostle Didn't have to.

They obviously knew so Commentary ready yet. He says he had no need to assert his apostleship. That was common knowledge and he could appeal to them in a more tender fashion. He was writing this very loving pastoral exhortation.

And so that's what this is, I mean you see several not only commands but exhortations to. To walk in the commandments to walk in in in obedience to God and to his commandments. So he didn't have to then we get to though the phrase that gets a little dicey to the elect lady to the elect lady.

What are some ideas you guys have who do you think there's all sorts of crazy ideas who he's writing to but what are your Thoughts what you guys think to a church? That's one of the the ideas and The bride of Christ.

Okay, and that's a very popular notion that this is right, those are the very popular notions that it was either a lady or who in her house there met a church or. It was just to a general letter to a church and he was using some sort of figurative language the lady.

But there's been all sorts of stuff thrown out there that this was Mary the mother of Jesus apparently some sort of tradition that she lived in this area of Asia that he was writing to and from and. That John, you know, he was told to care for Jesus his mother.

And so he's writing to the elect lady. Crazy notion. I doubt it highly it was Martha that that lady means Mistress and Aramaic and that's where we get the name Martha. So he's writing to Martha. Again, I doubt it.

Some people say the Church Universal. Some woman named elect a Curia Curia because those are the Greek words. I hope I said those right in my Greek student, but elect a Curia. So people say that that that was her name as in mrs.

Elect lady like this were the pilgrims progress, you know, judge. Hey good or worldly wise men that this is some allegory but doubtful. Some woman named electa. So John would be saying kind of hey lady electa.

Which would be kind of silly because in verse 13, it says the children of your like elect sister greet you so apparently her sister was named electa to so those are all these notions, but really, they're not really plausible and.

So the two that we're dealing with it was some lady and John refers to as that elect lady and we say lady today. It's kind of a term of What do you mean by we say she's a nice lady. She's a Refined noble.

Thomas was probably a a person of importance. Maybe she had money prominence or noble birth or something like that. Based on the text she had Children if we go with this option that it's a lady. It's a lady who was called before the foundation of the world elect this elect woman.

She tried many children because it says. You know, some of your children are walking in the truth and some You know are not. So this is the plainest reading in the text. I really thought it was the second option all week I'm studying.

I said he's right into a church, but John MacArthur kind of read something last night. It kind of changed my mind. So my notes are all messed up at this point, but plainest reading in the text. That John knew this woman.

This is the plainest reading. It's just some lady probably a widow because he otherwise probably right into the husband. Probably a widow this lady had a solid profession of faith. She was elect. She she was saved.

Probably had a house church and. Also second John it closely mirrors third John. They're probably written close together in succession. The elder second John is addressed the elder to the elect lady and her children whom I love in truth.

Third John the elder to the beloved Gaius whom I love in truth. Pretty similar he identifies the guy in the second one the first one. Maybe didn't feel the need to. You know knew who he's writing to she knew who is she's getting the letter from.

And he didn't feel the need to but I don't see why he would change. Right to directly to Gaius in one and then write some allegorical good. Mm-hmm. Could have been could have been you know, so we really don't know.

But again, I had a different idea all week and MacArthur kind of got me last night. I read that and he's like true. Why would he? Address this letter one way in third John, but this letter he's like, oh, I'll be all mystical and allegorical or you know.

Use some code words. The elect lady means the church. That's the second thing. It could be a personification of the church either way. I don't think it changes what John's trying to teach here what John's trying to tell them.

This letter probably would have been read aloud to the church and all these things would have been learned by the church at large. So It could be personification of church. Church is the bride of Christ.

Church is called it's it's a female word and.

Right, which means Means Lord. Yep, so there could be this.

Right, but on the other hand, they're saying well curious is Lord. That's our Savior. This is the bride of Christ Curia. They're married see yeah, it could be they they could use any other camp so. Some people think that that may be because of persecution or John was just trying to be poetic or whatever.

He said to the this church the elect lady. Some people think that John's language of love here in verses 1 2 verses 5 were not entirely appropriate if he's addressing an individual woman. But I think he's addressing a family so that's not exactly the case.

Whatever so it could be again our two options. This is just this is a woman probably a widow noble birth or talking about a church at large. So enough background enough preliminary matters. Let's get into the text the body of what he's writing to them and I stopped Bruce for a second the first word that popped out was.

Alright, what's another word we recognize there? What other what else was prominent in the first first half of the letter? Love truth love and what was the last one piggy? Walk which signifies You're walking in truth.

You're it's obedience, right? So truth love obedience. It's dealing with those three things and John emphasizes these he repeats them several times and he has a purpose for that. Continuing on in verse 1 the elder to the elect lady and the children whom I love in truth.

The ideas of love and truth are very much interwoven in the in these first few verses. First of all, what what is truth? What's he referring to? What's he talking about truth? It's truth. The word okay the Word of God.

What else could be? The gospel. It's truth. You received Christ came he gave you the good news of the gospel. He personified the good news of the gospel came as God in flesh and he's talking about that.

Truth about God who God is truth about salvation. Truth about what it means to live a holy life. It's truth the truth of the Bible and. So John he says he loves this particular church or this particular family and these people he says he loves them in truth.

So what what do you guys think of that expression love in truth? He loves them in truth. That was an excellent response. Real love cannot be separated from real truth all right, any notion of. We think of love common notions of love it all has to do with feelings and sentimentality.

Just these mushy ideas of poppy love compatibility just even just physical love. They all have their basis in the feelings of a person. John saying I love you in truth I love you in truth and Contrary to popular notions that love is blind.

Love is is Unconditional and all that he's saying now there are conditions For love in this body. There are conditions and it is the truth. We share this truth. That's what binds us together. That's what gives us unity and this truth.

Like again, it says in first John John saw it with his eyes. He heard it with his ears. He touched The embodiment of truth and that was Jesus Christ. He saw you know, God. This was objective to him. It wasn't just some oh your truth my truth every objective truth.

It's Verifiable truth. They saw this Jesus. He walked among them. He did wonders. He was truth. He was truth embodied. No and Pilate said what is truth? Standing right in front of him. That's a song I once heard so True love finds its basis in in in truth the truth of God's Word.

It's not sentimentality. These truths are verifiable. God sent his son in the flesh. He's born of a virgin. He lived a perfect life. He did wonders and miracles. He ministered to people. He died on the cross.

He rose again. He ascended into heaven. They saw it they were there. It's truth. And he says I love you in truth. This is what binds us together. He's elected us Into salvation. God's adopted us to his family.

We're that's the basis of our love. Is this truth of the gospel? Just to have a quote here from Danny Aiken. He said in the absence of truth True love is not present. True love is not present. If if your love is based on anything besides the truth of God's Word, that's that's not true Love that's not love as the Bible tells us love is MacArthur also said truth must always guide the exercise of love.

Love must stand the test of truth. The main lesson of this book is that truth determines the bounds of love. But it's not unconditional. Truth determines our bounds of love and as a consequence of unity.

Therefore truth must exist before love can unite for truth generates love. So John says I love you in truth. And again, this is objective true this to this. Like I said, all these words are here for a reason.

This is to counteract the the false teachers that were going about saying Jesus did not come in the flesh. He said yes, he did. I saw it. This is the truth. It's objective. He heard Christ teach. He saw him with his eyes.

He touched him with his hands. He walked with him. He saw he was an eyewitness to this truth. And he says you you guys are saying This that and the other thing while I'm telling you this is the truth and this is what binds us together.

Continuing on 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. Because of the truth that it abides in us and will be with us forever. So what's important here all who love the truth?

He says not only I love you in this way, but all who love the truth. They love you in this way all who love the truth. That's a common bond. We have that's why we you know Can welcome people here maybe a Sammy Williams or a missionary or something and and there's that bond of unity in the truth.

We don't see this guy, but every few years, but there's that warmth and unity and around God's Word around The common truth that we share. It's a living truth. This verse is also telling us and it informs the basis of Our love and unity and fellowship.

It also Tells us the truth is eternal. It'll be with us forever the same objective truths that bind us together here on earth. Hey, that's that's our basis for unity for all eternity. Christ came and he died for us.

So this eternal truth and. And Again this is directly against what the what the deceivers were saying that Jesus did not come in the flesh. So they were coming in they were destroying the unity of the church.

With their lives with their deception saying he didn't come in the flesh. There's no basis for your faith for your love for this unity. I'll tell you a different way. I'll tell you more enlightened way.

I'll tell you a more progressive way and. That's not the not the case. So again another quote from Danny Aiken truth mattered to John if deception and error slip into a fellowship. The results are always tragic and devastating.

The reason for this commitment to the truth is that the truth has seized them as a permanent and abiding reality. So it was important that they maintain their unity and truth and love. Moving on verse 3 grace mercy and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son in truth and love.

This is kind of a unique reading compared to the other epistles. What is the common greeting if you think of Paul's epistles? How did he always address? Grace to you in peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

What what's different about what John is saying? He adds in mercy right Peggy he adds in mercy so that's different and Paul when he was greeting. What else is different? Grace to you in peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

What was that? It's kind of a a wish a Prayer a blessing saying I I wish to you grace and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ. What's different about what John says? What is he saying? It's an affirmation.

It's fact. It's fact so that Okay, grace mercy and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son in truth and love. It's an affirmation of what they have. Not just a wish or a hope or a prayer for them that grace would remain with them that peace would remain with them.

But he's stating a fact here. We are united in truth and In this grace and mercy and peace will be with us and and these words they don't have any you know by grace he means the undeserved Unmerited favor of God and in salvation and mercy is what does mercy speak to?

God's compassion. God's pity. God's Willingness and readiness to forgive sin and in peace. I think he's talking about a Romans 5 type peace. We were once enemies of God, but through Christ's propitiatory sacrifice We now have peace and friendship with God.

Christ bore the wrath of God we have peace with him. And so this is Again, objective statement of truth. We have grace with mercy and we have peace with God our Father. And the Lord Jesus Christ Christ the Father's Son again not thrown in there willy-nilly Christ the Father's Son.

You know Christ and the Father are one and he was just want to throw that out there. So all you all you false teachers that maybe you're in the midst. Getting ready to emerge you're hearing this letter read God our Father Jesus Christ his son.

That's where our grace and truth is his based. So again in the context of this letter, that's it's a very important phrase that he sticks in there. We know that the false teachers they're denying Christ's divinity they're denying that he had come in the flesh and Here he's saying Jesus Christ the human and divine in one the Son of God.

Grace mercy and peace we receive from God the Father. We also receive from God the Son. So he's emphasizing the equality of Father and Son the full divinity of Jesus Christ. It's counteracting just one more time the these truths are these deceptions that the defaults teachers are thrown out there.

Continuing on we're still in verse 3 he finishes up verse 3 by saying in truth and love. Earlier John made clear that the truth it forms the basis for our love. Here he kind of puts them on the same plane he mentions truth and love in this greeting and it kind of further defines Kind of their relationship and I'm just gonna read another quote so much good stuff.

I read as it's overwhelmed. This is from John Stott says so the Christian fellowship Should be marked equally by true love and truth and we are to avoid extremism. Which pursues either at the expense of the other our love grows soft if it is not strengthened by truth.

And our truth hard if it is not softened by love. Scripture commands us both to love each other in the truth and to hold the truth in love. Thought that was a good quote. Moving on verse 4. I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth just as we were commanded by the Father.

So John like many New Testament Epistles he begins with a word of encouragement. He found joy and he saw these people how he saw them how he heard about them. Who knows people probably coming and going maybe the elect sister often got word Of what was going on?

So he found joy of seeing them walking in the truth and we already kind of discussed it. But what does it mean to walk in truth? Obedience. What else can I mean walking in truth? We confess the truth.

We believe the truth. We obey the truth. It's we have faith and obedience in Jesus Christ. It's a way of life. It marks our life. They're walking in the truth this truth changed them it transformed them and they walk in it they obey God.

Lou you got your Greek dictionary or your Greek Bible. You're making me nervous. He's he's shredded in the Greek anyway. So these people they were walking in the truth these children some of them were walking in the truth and they were obeying their father.

This is they were being obedient. All right moving on verse 5 and 6 and now I ask you dear leader. Not as though I were writing you a new commandment. But the one we have had from the beginning that we love one another.

Verse 6 and this is love that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment just as you have heard from the beginning so that you should walk. Walk in it. So what does John mean from the beginning?

Mentioned it twice from the beginning. We have these truths from the beginning. We have these commandments from the beginning. What does he mean? I mean you hear so many echoes of all John's other writings.

I Can't even conceive how someone can be so Deceived in their own heart to think that this is not the Apostle John Writing to us. You just hear the echoes throughout the letter. In the beginning was the Word of Word was with God.

This is the eternal Word of God from the beginning. Truth doesn't change where to God stands forever. You know, and this is the Jesus he walked with he knew so there's a sense. It's from the beginning the sense in the law.

Where? That was one of the great great commandments, right? Love the Lord you've got with all your heart. So mine strength love your neighbor as yourself. All the way back in Leviticus 19 love your neighbor as yourself and.