The Exhortation

Please remain standing for the reading of the word taken from 2nd John The book of 2nd John To remind you that we are sitting under God's holy Authoritative sufficient Infallible Word.

The Elder.

To the elect lady and her children Whom I love in the truth and not only I but also 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.

I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth As we have received commandment from the Father. 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 as you have heard from the beginning. You should walk in it. 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. Look to yourselves that we do not lose those things we work 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. And 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.

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.

The Lord be pleased with our study of his word. Please pray with me. Oh Lord we thank you for simple passages and simple messages. We need these often Lord. I pray that you would expose any deficiency of love in us.

Either in love for you or love for the brethren. Oh Lord even expose our lack of love for our and your enemies. Lord your servant John has harped on this theme throughout his first epistle. And it forms the stronger part of both of his second and third epistles.

This message was the burden of his heart. Your spirit inspired him to write it. And Lord we ask that the message would ring true. And come clear to us that we are to love one another As Christ has both loved and demonstrated and commanded.

And we ask all of this in Jesus name.

Amen.

Please be seated. For those of you who benefit from an outline I have two headings that I would like to operate under. And the first one is taken from verse 5. We'll only be really looking at verses 5 and 6 today.

The first is John's pleading. John's pleading in verse 5. And second we're going to hear John's purpose. At least in this part his purpose in love. To walk according to his commandments. John's pleading number 1 and John's purpose.

I mentioned last week that I believe that this is most likely an epistle to a church. And not just to an individual. I believe at the time of John's writing persecution had become stronger among the church.

And this may have been a little bit of a coded message. I think next week we'll see some more evidence of that. In that final section that we will cover. But it's important to see that John talks about something that is not original or new.

So often in our lives it seems the Lord brings back as a refrain common themes. We are called to love one another. Now it seems that the Lord has directed us to be in 1 John originally before the Advent season.

To finish that book and to finish the epistles of John in this season. Evidently love is important for our church. Of course this could be preached in any church. But we have to assume that the Lord is not aimlessly pushing us through the scriptures.

We have to believe that he is directing our steps to focus again and again on this subject of Christian love. Last week we concluded with verse 4. And every parent this resonates so strongly. Can you imagine running into an eminent minister.

Someone you respected in the faith. And they came and they approached you or they wrote a letter and said I have found your children, your blessed children walking in the truth. Those are some good children that come from your church.

Those are some good children that come from your family. They love the Lord and they walk in his ways. This must have been an encouragement to the recipients of this letter. But today we look at verses 5 and 6.

Look there in the text again. He says, And now I plead with you. Now the language, the force of that is strong. It's not a mere suggestion. John, maybe the only living apostle, the disciple who Jesus loved.

He says, I'm pleading with you. If I came to you saying, I'm imploring you. I don't have a new command to give you. But I plead with you. That you, that we love one another. So let's consider what this idea of plead means.

This is very basically the act of asking or requesting something. But it's often given with a sense of earnestness or urgency. This letter was written almost 2000 years ago. But there is a Holy Spirit enabled sense of urgency for us.

We need to love one another today. No need to wait until next week or next year. We need to love each other today. And so the force of this, there's this commendation in verse 4. There's great things happening amongst the people.

But John has corrective measures or preventative measures to give to these folks. There's a danger of not loving as they ought. There's a danger for us that we would not love one another as we ought. There's something else in this idea of pleading.

It is a special consideration that is given because of a special relationship that is involved. John is the apostle, this church is known for her godliness. And so there's a weightiness to the request.

These are the people of God hearing from God's minister. So there's added gravitas and weight to the argument that John is making. He says, I plead with you. John's desire is for this lady and her children to earnestly love one another and keep God's commands.

And it should be maybe reversed also that keeping God's commands means excelling in love. You guys may remember children, the Pharisees questioned Jesus. There are a few different ways this question has been posed in scripture.

What is the greatest commandment in the law? And Jesus responds with two. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul, and all of your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.

Now it should be noted that the first commandment in the Ten Commandments represented by the beginning of Jesus' answer is the most essential of the commands. We have a love problem because we have a worship problem.

The worship of God is filled with love and it produces love in the people who worship God. So we want to get into the mechanics of failures at love. The first thing we have to look at is are we loving God as we ought?

If I'm not loving God as I ought, I'm not going to love my wife or my children or the church like I should. You see, man in his relationship to God defines man in his relationship with other men. It's important that we put first things first.

The worship of God, obedience to God and His commands is the singular most important thing in our lives. It should be asked, does your life reflect that the worship of God, submission to Him as Lord, Savior, is it preeminent?

Is it really the thing that characterizes your life? Now this is a hard one. We're occupied in many noble Christian pursuits. But we must first and foremost be those who are worshipers of the one true and living God.

If we do other things and miss that, we miss everything. The glories of heaven will be the worship in person, face to face of God. That's what heaven will be. I wonder if we need to reorient our priorities and put God again first.

Not in a theological way because that's easy. We know the Sunday school answer to give. But in a very deep and practical way, my life needs to be characterized by communion with God through the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

John says, I'm pleading with you. I beseech you. It's a great King James word. I beg of you. I entreat you. I'm making this request of you. Let's make sure that we love one another. Now it's interesting that John uses, and the original grammar kind of reflects this, the we.

I wonder if there's not some conflict, possibly. Maybe there's a breach, and I'm speculating here, maybe there's a breach between John and the church. Maybe their toleration of false teacher has driven a wedge between brethren they had had such a great relationship with before.

But John throws himself into the mix and says, we have to love one another. He's pleading with them. He's not giving them a new commandment, but an old one. I'm going to read a few passages from 1 John just to refresh your memory.

You don't have to follow along unless you're able. If following along will distract you from the message, don't follow along, just listen. But if you're able to follow along and not be distracted, turn to 1 John 2 Verse 15 and following John is not only the disciple whom Jesus loved, he's the disciple who preaches about love.

Verse 15 says, Do not love the world or the things in the world. Hold on to your seats. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. That's tough. If you're honest, that's tough. If it's a theological platitude or something, it's not that tough.

But if you're honest about your own heart, honest about your own condition. We are, by nature in sin, lovers of the world. But there has to be a decisive break. We have to love God more, that first commandment idea.

We have to love Him wholeheartedly, unreservedly. Without looking to the right or the left. He continues in verse 16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. And the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Of course here, children, you may be thinking that Jesus is frustrated with the spherical globe upon which we live. And that's not what the world is. In this case, the world is the evil world system. Which is in open rebellion to God.

The cosmos, in this case, is the people and the system under the sway of the devil. As John will say later in the epistle. Skip down to chapter 3 of 1 John. No sweeter words could ever be heard than these.

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. There's nothing better. So if there be any sadness, any discontentment in your life. You need to repent if you are in Jesus Christ because you're a child of God.

What love is this that the Father would call us children? Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.

But we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is. If communion with God is your greatest delight. You are experiencing a little glimpse of heaven on earth. I'm enjoying what I'm getting now.

How much greater are the glories of heaven that wait for God's people? Now if you're not caring so much about these things, you're not really feeling it. Not really in the Word, not really indifferent about it all.

Indifferent about worship, you're not experiencing the fullness of this. We are children of God. In verse 3, and everyone who has this hope in Him Purifies himself just as He is pure. There is absolute gold here in 1 John.

Let's turn over to verse 10. 1 John 3 .10. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. It's black and white, it's right and wrong, it's clear. It's sheep and goats. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest.

Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. Nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning. That we should love one another. There's the very language that John uses in our 2nd epistle section.

Not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brothers righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. I said this.

I believe when we were in this section. I don't think the world hates us enough. We have not drawn the ire of the world as we ought. Because we're not loving righteousness as we ought. We're blending in.

We know that we have passed from death to life. Because we love the brethren. It's so essential, it's such an essential fruit of the faith. That it really defines Christian character. He who does not love his brother abides in death.

Whoever hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. I'm going to cut out some of them. I'll skip over to chapter 4. I'll just do a couple. We'll conclude and get back to our text.

Chapter 4, verse 7. 1 John 4, 7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. And this, the love of God, was manifested toward us.

That God has sent his only begotten son into the world. That we might live through him. And this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us. And sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Now let's go ahead and turn back to 2 John. Could ask the question, a skeptic could ask a question. Say, how do we know that God loves us?

There's all of this problem, all these problems and trouble in the world. How do we know that God loves the world? John gave us the answer. He sent his son. Jesus comes in the flesh. He comes to live a sinless life.

He comes to make an atoning and perfect sacrifice for sin on the cross. Death could not hold him. He has to be raised from the dead. And even now he's ascended and ruling and reigning at the right hand of God.

All of that is incredible proof of God's love. It follows that we ought to love one another. Well let's get back into verse 5. It says, I plead with you lady. Not as though I wrote a new commandment. We're going to focus on the word commandment for just a moment.

This word in the original is entole. And it's often described as being of divine origin. The reason John says this isn't a new command. I didn't come up with this on my own. This is from God. This is from on high and it's been part of the biblical revelation since the very beginning.

These commandments are given by God. They come through him, from him. And are moral and ethical in nature. And again there's a weightiness, an emphasis, an authority That comes with the command. In fact it's inherent in it.

There are obligations that are imposed upon those who are in communion with God. To keep them. These very obligations when neglected will be the source of judgment for the unbeliever. These are important, weighty matters.

The Jewish understanding, the mitzvot in the Hebrew. The commandments were central to religious life. They encompassed all of the moral law and even ceremonial practices. We see that in the old covenant.

In the Yohannine corpus, in the letters of John, the gospel of John. Love for God, love for others. After the example of Christ, even love for enemies Are essential for Christian living and fellowship.

They are a governing command. They encompass the full scope of the law and summarize all the commandments. Love is to be a distinguishing feature and characteristic of the Christian. And following Christ and his apostles.

You know the commandment that applies in every circumstance Is the commandment to love. This love seeks the glory of God and the good of others. And it's self-sacrificing as we learned about agape in depth in 1 John.

So John is calling the church. He's calling us now even through the power of the Holy Spirit. To love, to keep the weighty command of God. The command that stretches all the way back to creation. And even to the covenant of redemption before creation happened.

We are to love one another. The simple truth can be really glossed over for us. We should want the old paths. The truths of scripture should be deeply rooted and grounded in us. And requires a continuous act of cultivation.

Our heart conditions like today. This serves to prepare our hearts to obey this command. Considering the word of God. Our heart needs to be prepared. The weeds of anger and hate need to be plucked from our lives.

The pests and predators to our love need to be destroyed. We have to mortify our sin. We have to cut off the influences that push us away From the love of Christ. The love of our brethren. We have to water and nurture and bring to full maturity.

The fruits of love of our Christian life. We need to harvest them and we need to use them. And disperse them and give them to others. Then we need to go back and we need to till the soil again. And we need to plant these back in the ground.

And repeat the process over and over and over again. Continuous replication. Continual retilling of the soil of our heart. Loving one another has two elements. It's a definitive resolve. You must purpose to love the people of God in particular.

And it's also a continuous work. You have to keep doing it.

You know it's interesting.

The unbeliever has a sense of love We know it's probably not agape love. The unbeliever imperfectly loves those who are close to them People that they like. The Christian's love is broader and deeper.

He has been incorporated, brought into the body of Christ Of which he is a member. And the health and productivity of the body Requires each member to excel in love. Anemic love will stifle the full functioning of the body.

Christians have to look outside of themselves in love. We interpret the world through the lens of our own eyes only. And we have to see the world differently Through the eyes of Christ Having the mind of God empowered by the Spirit.

And when we do that We suddenly become very interested in the affairs of others. It's not natural. It's spiritual. It's from regeneration. It's sanctification that produces this good fruit in us. Never forget that the people of Christ Were once hostile enemies of him.

And they've been won over by his love. You have been forgiven much. Therefore you should love much. How can we who have been so lavishly loved by God. Neglect to love those in Christ And forgive those who have sinned against us.

This is all part of this essence and spirit of the commandment. Knowing this and living this are different things. We must profoundly know what he means to love, biblically. We have to expend some effort and give some time To searching the scriptures and knowing what it means to love God And to keep his commands.

But then we have to move to action And apply the principle to every sphere Every attitude of our entire lives. It should help us understand why John was so determined To drive this point home throughout the gospel of John His three epistles.

We're not going to turn there. But you may remember even in his first address To the seven churches in Revelation 2. You remember he addressed Ephesus. And they were chastened for neglecting their first love.

God, Christ, his gospel. Love for one another. They hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans Which was good But they had abandoned the primary things. And there's a danger for us. We have all of these things that we have convictions on.

Many of them are good. But we can never forsake the most important cherished things. Love, central.

Among those.

Well, time is moving on. And I have to get to verse 6. And I have to ask the question then. How do we love? Look at verse 6. This is love. That we walk according to his commandments. What does it mean to walk?

It means more than putting one foot in front of the other. And moving from one place to the next. Walking is the manner and course of a person's life. That's why we hear, it used to be said. I remember I was a young Christian.

How is your Christian walk? I don't really say that as much now. Maybe we should recover that language. How is your Christian course and manner of life? The way that the people of biblical times got to where they were going.

Was they walked. That's why Deuteronomy 6 says. While you're walking by the way. Instruct your children in the things of the faith. And they're old, they won't depart from it. What is your course and manner of life?

Some of the great saints of old like Enoch. Let's turn there and we'll look at two things really close to each other. Go to Genesis chapter 5. Children, this is very exciting. I'm going to give the secret today.

Of how to be great in the kingdom of God. There should be a TED talk on it. The secret of how to be great in the kingdom of God. Are you ready for it? Genesis chapter 5. Verse 21. Enoch lived 65 years.

And begot Methuselah. Methuselah would become the oldest person to ever live. After he begot Methuselah. Here it is, you ready for the secret? This is the secret to greatness. Do you want to be great in the kingdom of God?

The mystery is unfurled for us right here. Enoch walked with God. His manner and course of life was. First commandment obedience. He loved the Lord, his God, with all of his might. And his manner and course of life reflected it.

I was joking about the TED talk, it's so simple. But how profound and how deep is it? It's such a significant thing that If we turn over to chapter 6 We're going to learn something else. Another great man of faith.

And by the way, Enoch is so great he doesn't even die. He walks with God for 300 years and God just takes him. He's so righteous he's not good enough for the earth anymore. He gets to go be with God. But Noah is a very important figure in biblical history.

And it seems that he has this greatness in him. Look at Genesis 6 beginning at verse 9. This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man. Perfect in his generations. Here it is again. Why was Noah great?

Why is he entrusted with saving the human race and every living creature? Why is Noah selected for this work?

Four words.

Noah walked with God.

That's why.

Noah walked with God. Apparently John thinks That this isn't reserved only for the super saints of the old covenant. He's calling us to this greatness. To walk with God, to walk in his commandments. To love him and to love his people.

We can use other examples. Abraham, David. Let's go back to 2 John. Abraham walked with God. Literally and figuratively. God called him and told him. Go to the land of promise that your family is going to inherit.

So Abraham just starts walking south from Haran. It's kind of a beautiful picture, isn't it? The obedience of his faith is matched tangibly to the action. He just starts walking. Starts going with him.

Travels south to inherit the land of promise. You and I are called to walk in the love of Christ. To walk in the commandments of God. It's a continuous action. If you're not walking, you stop and you're no longer walking.

It's very simple, isn't it? We have to keep going. Or we're no longer walking. This walk is not aimless. It has a clear direction. There's a path, there's a destination. We have to walk according to his commandments.

We have to regularly consult the roadmap of the scriptures. We can't deviate from the right or the left. We have to remember there are blessings that we find along the way. We just read moments ago in 1 John.

Oh, the bounty of heaven is ours. For those who walk in the ways of God. This should better equip and outfit us to endure the trials and obstacles that we face as sinners living in a world now redeemed but yet still suffering the effects and consequences of sin.

The love of God fuels our walk in love. The Lord Jesus Christ himself is our trailblazer. He's provided a well-beaten path for us. The saints before us have tread on the same road and give us encouragement to persevere in the walk of faith.

Think of the cloud of witnesses. Think about Christ, the apostles and their doctrine. The next generation of church leaders. They all started walking on the beaten path of the truth, the way The Lord Jesus Christ.

We need to look to more experienced Christians to bid us to follow them on the old well-worn path that God has supplied. May it be said of us like it was said of the saints of old. The people of ascension walk with God in the love of Christ.

That our love would overflow to others bringing every man to full maturity in Christ made ready to spend eternity with Christ in glory and to be used of him to bring many sons to that glory. This is love that we would walk according to his commandments.

This is the commandment that as you have heard from the beginning you should walk in it. Oh brethren, let us walk in this most glorious way.

Amen.

A couple words of application, we'll close and pray. You and I need to strain to know the love of God. We have to search the scriptures and for generations of you who don't know what a map is. I'm thinking of the paper kind, not the GPS.

The kind you have to open with your hands and follow with your finger. You need to open the word of God to understand the way, the path that we are to walk on. Today, do not walk out of here until you have asked the Lord to show and reveal any want of love in your life and repent of it.

Ask the Lord, it's very painful in the beginning but it's sweet in the end. Ask the Lord to show you the ways in which you are failing to love him. The ways you're failing to put him first. Ask him the deficiencies in your love for his people, his church.

Ask him to show you even how you've not properly loved your enemies. It may be most challenging for us today. Be willing to go and be reconciled to those whom you have failed to love. We have cause for rejoicing today, don't we?

Rejoice and give thanks you have been loved by God in Christ. Your want of love, in fact your hatred of God has been conquered by the redeeming love of Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to grant the grace, the power, the desire to love as Christ has loved.

Ask a mature believer to disciple and shepherd you in the love of God. Finally, take this love of God to the world. Start with your extended family, your neighborhood, your workplace and even the environs of our little parish here.

Take the message of God's love to a world awash in hate and anger and strife. Bring Christ to them. There's a lot under the surface of simple words, isn't there? John writes, now I plead with you not as though I wrote a new commandment to you but that which you 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. O Lord Jesus Christ, make it so in us.

Amen?

Please pray with me. O Lord, we cry out to you to expose our lack of love. We have not loved you as we ought. I pray that you would give us a real and genuine repentance and that you would allow us to walk in fresh obedience.

O Lord, we have not loved your people as we ought. We have not loved your church as we ought. We pray that you would cause us to repent and to have deep, sincere love for the brethren. And O Lord, I pray that we would be merciful to sinners like you have been merciful to us and that we would be instruments in your hand to reconcile them into the love of God in Christ.

And O Lord, we thank you that though our sins be many, your grace is greater. We need not be filled with shame for our failings but we rejoice that we have a Savior a Mediator, who is Christ the Lord.

And it's in His name that we pray.

Amen.