WWUTT 452 Walking In Truth?

John wrote a really short letter to one specific church, having found evidence that they are walking in the truth.

So he encourages that that whole church would continue to grow in love for one another when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. We continue our study of the book of 2

John. We'll be reading the whole thing again today, one whole book of the Bible. Yeah, just 13 verses.

A couple of years ago, my daughter was about seven years old. For whatever reason, we opened up the Bible to 2

John. She read all of 2 John, then all of 3 John, and then the book of Jude.

I was able to go on Twitter and say, hey, my seven -year -old daughter read three books of the Bible today.

What have you done? Granted, they were the three shortest books, but nonetheless, she read three books of the

Bible. So here we go again, reading all through 2 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. Because of the truth that 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 Father's Son, in truth and in love. I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the

Father. And now I ask you, dear lady, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one that we have 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.

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.

Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.

Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the

Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

The children of your elect sister greet you." So we come back again to the very beginning, this introduction that we looked at yesterday, the first three verses.

John identifies himself as the elder, just as the Apostle Peter refers to himself as an elder in 1

Peter 5, John is writing to the elect lady and her children, that is one specific church, and the members of their congregation, whom

I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth.

So all of us who have received the gospel of Jesus Christ, we love one another with the same love that we have been loved by God.

It is by the love of God that the gospel was spoken to us, it is by the love of God his son was given for our sins, it is by the love of God that those who are in God took the gospel of Jesus Christ and shared it with others.

It is out of love that this gospel came to us, in the truth, and so we love one another in the truth.

Because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever.

Once again, this truth that has been given in love. I think of 1 Corinthians 13, where the

Apostle Paul says, these three remain, faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.

Why is love greater than faith and hope? Because faith and hope we will have only for this life, we do not need faith and hope in heaven, once we get to heaven, we will continue to be in the love of God forever just as we are in the love of God now, those who abide in Christ.

The truth abides in us and will be with us forever. This truth that has come from God the

Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ. We read the following in John 15, I am the true vine,

Jesus says, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit.

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches, whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bear as much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.

If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

By this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

As the father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love.

These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.

Let me read that verse 9 again. As the father has loved me, so I have loved you.

The same love that God has for his son is the same love that he has for us.

God loves us with the same love and intensity that he loves his own son.

And Jesus says, abide in my love. What does it mean to abide in Christ?

And he abides in us. Consider that word. What does it mean to abide? It means to remain, to continue, to live with, to have an abode with and dwell, reside.

These are all words that describe abide. So to abide in Christ means that we live in him with our whole lives.

It doesn't mean that, hey, I gave my life to Jesus once. I prayed a prayer and I wrote the date that I prayed that prayer down in my

Bible. So now I can point back to it and I can prove, I can show that I am a

Christian because of that date. That is not the evidence of our Christian faith. The evidence of our faith is that we're bearing fruit.

Jesus just said it here. You will prove that you are my disciples when you are bearing fruit.

By this, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

So this means in abiding in Christ, we're continuing in Christ. It's not something that we did at one point in the past, but we're continuing in progress.

We are growing and bearing fruit. And the word that John is going to use here coming up in verse four is walking in the truth that also indicates progress, that we are growing in this truth.

We are progressing in it. And so this is the evidence of the faith that we have. If we abide in Christ, we will produce fruit, abiding in love, and he will abide in us.

So just as we live our whole lives in Christ Jesus, doing all things to the glory of God, so he will abide in us.

He lives within us. And by this, we know that he is always with us, not just that he came to us at a point in the past, but he continues with us because abiding in us means that he is always with us.

We have it at the very end of the Great Commission. In Matthew 28, verse 20,

I am with you always, even to the very end of the age. There is never a point in our lives that Christ is not with us if we are abiding in Christ.

He abides in us. And so this is that truth that abides in us and will be with us forever, just as Christ is with us now.

So he will be with us forever and we will be with him in his kingdom in glory. Verse 3, once again, grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the

Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, in truth and in love. Again, a truth that came to us in love, for it was

God who in love sent his Son. It is Jesus who in love sent his apostles.

It is the apostles who in love preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it is in love that this gospel has come to you and you have believed it and abide in this truth.

We come to verse 4 now, where John says, I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth.

I'm going to keep reading because we need to keep things in a certain context here. I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the

Father. And now I ask you, dear lady, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one that we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.

So here's what seems to be the indication here. Perhaps this church, a word has come from John that there's not much evidence of the love that they have from God.

Perhaps there are some that have been squabbling and quarreling with one another. Maybe some of these Christians have been quarreling with another church.

But John encountered some of the children of that church. He personally encountered them and found they were walking in the truth.

So even though it may be said that there was some sin that was going on in this church, nonetheless,

I met some of your children who are very clearly walking in the truth. So this word walking that he uses, meaning that they abide in Christ, they are progressing in Christ, they are growing and bearing fruit.

There is evidence of their progress. So I rejoiced greatly. I rejoiced. Praise God.

There are some children from this church that are walking in the truth. So it's not like we can totally dismiss this church.

Here's the evidence of some of their children walking in truth. So we know the truth is being proclaimed in that church.

And there are some who have turned from sin and are abiding in Christ and showing the evidence of that, just as we were commanded by the

Father to walk in the truth. One of those verses that I think of concerning walking in truth is

Ephesians 2 .10. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which

God the Father prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And so here's these good works that some of these children from this particular church are walking in, just as we were commanded by the

Father to walk in good works. Verse 5. And now I ask you, dear lady. So now

I am addressing this whole church, this whole church congregation, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one that we have had from the beginning.

So John reminding them of the commandment that we have had from Christ from the beginning, that we love one another.

Jesus said, a new commandment I give you, that you love one another.

And as we were talking about this when we were in 1 John, because he says the same thing in that letter. And once again, as we talked about yesterday, that was a letter that was addressing several churches.

This is a letter addressing one specific church. And so just as we talked about in 1

John, where we read that there also, a new commandment that we have had from the beginning.

It's not a new commandment. It's the one that we've had from the beginning, that we love one another. So what is it that makes that a new commandment?

When Jesus says to his disciples, a new commandment I give you, that you love one another. Well, it's simply this.

In the Old Testament, we were commanded to love our neighbor, Israel, the chosen people of God, commanded to love their neighbor.

We have that in Leviticus 19, in Deuteronomy and in other places. But this is a love that we have in keeping with the law.

And so it was almost as if by our own ability, we love and care for and show charity to one another.

Jesus, when he says a new commandment I give you, is a love that we have with one another because we have

Christ dwelling within us. So it is no longer a love that we are doing by our own ability to love, but rather a love that supersedes any kind of human love and affection that we can have for one another, because it is the love of Jesus Christ dwelling within us.

That's what makes it new. That's what makes it a new commandment, a new covenant, that we would love one another with the love of Christ who now dwells within us.

So there is a commandment that John is giving to this church, not a new commandment, but the one that we have had from the beginning, from the start of the church, the commission that Christ gave to his disciples, that we would love one another.

And this is love, verse 6, that we walk according to his commandments. And this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it, the commandment to love one another.

This is love, that we walk according to his commandments. We show that we have the love of God when we are obeying what it is that Christ has commanded.

We just read that again in John chapter 15. And so this is the commandment that we have heard from the beginning, that we would love one another, and so that you would walk in it.

Not that you just professed it at one time, and not that you just did it at one period of time in your life, but you are progressing in it.

Not that you are just confessing it now, right? That also is included with this. Not just that you confess with your mouth that you are walking in love, but you walk in love.

You are showing progress in this love. You are growing in love with the members of the body of Christ.

Your love is increasing. It is growing. It is maturing. It is long -suffering.

It is progress. It is progressing. We are growing in this love, as John is urging this church to walk in it.

Verse 7, for many deceivers have gone out into the world. Now, where did we hear that statement?

That sounds familiar, right? Probably have that verse memorized. 1 John 4 .1,

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess

Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

They are from the world, therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God.

Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us.

By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, just as John is talking about here in 2

John as well. So those who know God and know his truth will not be led astray by those false teachers who speak from the world.

Those who are of the world, they're going to listen to them because they have worldly hearts so they will listen to worldly false teachers.

Those who are in Christ who dwell in this truth and this truth abides in them will not be led astray by the deceivers.

And so John warns those of the elect lady, those who are in the truth and abiding in it.

Many deceivers have gone out into the world. Those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.

Again, it's the same thing we read in 1 John, but remember that John was writing to a collection of churches.

There seems to be something that he's specifically trying to target in this particular letter.

And I almost wonder if John may have even written this letter at near the same time that he wrote 1

John, but he makes a more impassioned appeal to one specific church. When he makes that general appeal in 1

John, he may have had this church in mind. So they're going to hear from me in this letter, me say this and be convicted and maybe it wasn't enough.

So now he writes a specific letter to that church to say, hey, there's many deceivers that have gone out into the world.

They don't confess Jesus Christ is coming to the flesh, that God incarnate, okay,

Jesus Christ left his throne in heaven, took on the form of a man, took on human flesh, the likeness of a servant and became obedient to the will of God the

Father, even obedient unto death. This message of the gospel that we have talked about in Philippians chapter 2.

So all who deny that Jesus Christ is God who came in the flesh, and it could be any number of beliefs that would deny the truth of the

God man, okay? And there may be a specific belief or teaching that John is thinking about here, but we can attribute this to anything.

You know, the Jehovah's Witnesses who claim that when Jesus rose again, he didn't bodily rise again.

I mean, that's heresy. The idea that Jesus did not really inhabit human flesh, but he just looked like it.

He just looked like a man. Or when he was on the cross, his spirit departed from him, or he could just switch off all of the damage that he was actually feeling and did not have to feel pain.

That would be part of this heretical teaching that comes from the Antichrist.

Or when you have some atheists who say that Jesus wasn't even a real person that ever actually existed.

I posted a video yesterday from Todd Friel. This is one of the older classic wretched videos of a debate that Todd Friel did with an atheist.

And one of the first questions he asked him is, so you don't believe that Jesus was a real person? And the atheist goes, no, not even a real person, didn't even walk this earth.

That's the teaching of the Antichrist. Anyone who denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, such a one is a deceiver and the

Antichrist. Watch yourself so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.

We have worked, labored to bring this gospel to you, that you would hear it, that you would turn from sin and that you would abide in it.

You would grow in it. This is the work that we have labored for. You've worked for this, to have turned from sin and be growing in sanctification.

So do not let that be snatched away from you, but win the full reward in Christ.

Run the good race, setting our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, which we read about in Hebrews chapter 12.

We'll stop there for now and pick up our—finish our reading of 2

John tomorrow. Our Lord God, we thank you for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ that came to us in word and in love.

It is by your love you sent your Son to die for our sins. It is by your love you sent your apostles to deliver this word to us.

And so as we have received it in love, let us walk in love. Love for God and love for the people of God.

And in walking in love, we understand we're growing in this love. We cannot grow in a love of people that we are not regularly associating with.

So keep us diligent to be active with the body of Christ, growing in the church that we are a part of, so that we may reach the full reward presented, sanctified before Christ on the day of the

Lord. We thank you so much for this work that is being done in us, for as the Apostle Paul prayed for the

Philippians, I am convinced that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it on the day of Christ Jesus.

And we pray these things in his name. Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes.

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