We'll turn to 2 John. We'll be reading all of 2 John, verses 1-13. Hear now the word of the Lord. 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 love. I rejoice 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 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. Thus far, the reading of the word. second john i'm not sure how much time all of us spend with this letter with this book of the bible typically of the epistles we tend to focus on some of the more longer ones or we'll focus on first john but it seems that second john and third john always kind of get passed over but what we see here in second john is actually that it's a very important letter for us and it's a good reminder for us without getting into all the background many commentators believe that this letter is closely associated with first john and that it was sent out to more specific congregations that John would have had in mind and similarly similar things with third John but what we see also here in second John is that the elder he is writing to deal with a problem that is going on and that problem is dealing with false teachers that are coming in to the church specifically the false teachers who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh he counsels this church at a pivotal time in their history on how to deal with these things and for us that is also where we find ourselves today not that no other time in history is as pivotal as it is now but ever since christ ascended it has been a pivotal time in the church's history the church is always facing things and so we also are facing things we know today. But what we see here, more importantly, is we find one application or an application of Christ's commandment is to hold fast to the truth. That commandment being that we would love one another. And so our three points this evening are that you can put we love one another dot dot dot because of knowing the truth, by obeying the truth, and by protecting each other. So just to recap, because of knowing the truth, by obeying the truth, and by protecting the truth. So let's begin with the truth. What is the truth? In John's epistles and his gospel, the theme of truth is very prevalent. We find him writing almost seemingly exclusively about this in comparisons at times. It seems to just stick out like a sore thumb. And the truth for John, at its most basic level, is embodied in our Lord, Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God who took on flesh to redeem those whom God has called. He takes this not because he's just making things up, but because these are the things that the Lord himself taught. Recall our Lord's words in the Gospel of John. I am the way, the truth, and the life. See, Jesus himself says that he is the truth. Truth, then, is access to God the Father. Truth was to be in agreement with what God had willed, and truth is everything that Christ had taught. So it follows for us, then, that if God is truth, and if Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, who walked in the flesh and taught on earth, what he taught is true, and what he said of himself must be true. Redundant? Yes, I know. But there's a reason why these things get repeated in Scripture. And I think it's important for us to slow ourselves down and to think about this and hammer that home. And I don't say this thinking that anyone here is doubting that, but I think it's always good to take pause and consider these things. So with this in mind, we also recall, as I alluded to earlier, the early church was seemingly facing issue after issue. These issues all were bound up with what is true, and when we think about it, put yourselves in the shoes. The church was fairly new on the scene, hadn't even been 50 years, hadn't even been 100 years, and they're dealing with ironing all these different things out. We see already in the book of Acts that they had the first general assembly or synod, if you will, as in the council of jerusalem because there were these questions that abounded that they had to deal with and that continued on as we confessed earlier we we confessed the nicene creed and this particular issue that john's writing to is actually something that they were dealing with at nicaea and then they further dealt with that chalcedon and sadly even though you would have thought by that point that these things were figured out and hammered home, they seemed to keep rearing their head. But what we see in John is that there was to be no toleration for questioning these things. These things were imperatively true to the life and the well-being of the believers and to the church. If Christ is who He said He was, then His teachings were true. This truth was objective, and as an objective truth, it was to be received and held onto as such. For us today, though, we live in a time where objective truth is seemingly not accepted. It seems like everything that is true is questioned at one point or another. See, today, the permeating thought is truth is a personal preference and is not universally applied to all. It seems that if you hold anything that is universally true or hold it to be universally true, it might even be given that, okay, that's true, but it's just true for now. I can think of as I was growing up, my experience was that it seemed like there was a shift to privatizing your religious or ideological views, because that was just your truth. What was good for you was good for you, but don't put that on me, or don't put that on others. The common phrase was, yes, I'm a Christian, but I don't want to shove anything down anyone's throat. Now that still exists today, but as we are well aware, that things are trending even further along. In this time, you would even be encouraged to believe in the Bible, because hey, it might work for you. But if it doesn't work, or if it doesn't jive with what someone thinks, and it's not their cup of tea, they just dismiss it. See, we live in a time where post-modernism's effect and also we can really just say the sinful nature of human beings has led us to a point of rejecting basic things, the basic biological truths of man. That's one that's out there and that you don't have to be a Christian to see that it's painfully obviously not true in terms of the rejection that is. But coming back to our text and coming back to what it is that we believe in regards to Christ, we hold that these things about Jesus Christ are a fixed thing. And for John in the early church, that was just as true. See, as Christians, and John was trying to nail this down, we have a standard and an objective truth. Revealed in his word, it is our foundation that does not move. The word of God himself, that is Jesus Christ. He walked this earth to teach us what it is we were to believe and how it was we were to live. And as the church, we receive that and we come to know that we are a people of the truth. We believe in the truth. We live by the truth. And so with that, tying the truth and the church together brings us to another point that John's making in the beginning, specifically in regards to the church and being that people of truth. He calls the church the chosen lady, the elect's sister, the church as elect. This language here, it's not just poetic or metaphorical language. The language that he is using has a purpose. Think of our church here. And then think of maybe the Oceanside URC or Santee. Those churches, they're sister, the elect sister churches. All of us together, though, being the church of Christ. But along with being people of the truth, we are those who, by God's mercy, have also had our hearts regenerated and put our faith in Jesus Christ. And so it is that being united by all this together, we hold to it dearly. We hold these truths together dearly as the people of Christ. And doing that, we have our Lord's commandments that He's given to us. As we pick up in verse 4, John says, I rejoice 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 to you a new commandment, but the one 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. The commandment is still important. It is in obeying this commandment, then, that we also are able to love one another as Christians. It's a marker of who we are as Christ's people. So what we see with this, with this commandment that we've been giving, is really these words were given by Christ. Again, this is not something that some guys got together and just said, you know what, we're going to take a little bit of Judaism, we're going to take a little bit of maybe the pagan religions, and we're going to put this together and we're going to put this forth. No, this is a commandment that has always been there. And Christ himself taught it to the people. He taught it to us. He and John indicates this in verse six, again, turning there, he says, and this is love that we walk according to his commandments. And this is the commandment, just as you've heard from the beginning he's tying it back to the law he's tying it back to the very beginning he's not coming in and saying we're doing a new thing in verse 9 he specifically points out that this is christ's teaching it's again not anything new now adding credibility and weight to this consider john john's words himself in the opening of first John. He walks with Jesus. In the opening of 1 John, what he does is he speaks about touching Christ, hearing Christ, seeing Christ. The language that he uses points to the fact that, again, he heard these things in person. These things were handed down to them. And this is important for us because for us, we can sometimes feel like we're distant. Sometimes we can feel like we're removed from Jesus and what he, who he is and what he's taught to us. And when we do this, it can have a couple negative effects on us. The first way that the effect it can be or is a negative effect is that it we can come to a point where we start to doubt the teachings that we have and when you get these kinds of things what you start to see are some of the problems that arise in christological things problems that arise in questioning who christ was was he god or man god and man all and other everything in between essentially second way that these things can come out or be manifested is in apathy one of the common questions i got as i i used to serve as a youth pastor one of the common questions i used to get was pastor drew how can i grow closer to jesus wow how can i grow closer to him i just i i want to hear his voice i want to i want to be closer to him but the reality is it's right there in the word we have in the word what the apostles have handed down to us to know what is true to know what is right and sadly for those used and many today the reality is they're not in the word they're not receiving what has been handed down see at the root of this both in challenging the teachings or in the apathetic apathy is that there's a bit of a rejection in what we read in scripture being that it's coming from god himself now i admit all of us have at one time or another fallen into these seasons maybe it's not the questioning from a negative side but apathy really does creep in and it's very good for us to get these reminders. One of the things that we take away here from John's letter is also that he's not writing to say that you're forgetting per se. In fact, the first section here, verses four through six, he's actually encouraging them and saying, hey, you're doing a good job, but I just want to remind you. We also see that in the other epistles of Peter and Paul. They do the same things. And so here, with John, he takes up to remind the church of walking in the truth and obeying the commandments of Christ. That's what he's specifically focusing on here. Now, walking in the truth, that's a common phrase that we've heard. How's your walk? It's one of those Christian cliches that are out there. So what is this walking of the truth that he speaks to? Now, I've been told that I should never quite point to the Greek or make comments about it, but I did study it to try and see if there was anything background with it. And one of the things with the Greek word that's there is it carries the idea of behavior. It's not just speaking about walking, but it's used also to talk about the behavior. So for the church, her behavior then is informed by the truth. Again, we come back to this idea of the truth. And we see how it jives with the commandment to love one another. So this truth is the gospel. Specifically Christ's teaching to love one another. That is in this particular letter that we're looking at, that we're focusing on. So what is love? Well, it's walking in obedience to those commands and teachings of Christ. By listening to Christ, it's part of how we're able to love one another. The life of the church is characterized by behaving in obedience with Christ's teachings. The truth of the gospel and all that comes with it transforms the lives of God's people by the power of his Holy Spirit. Now, another thing about the truth that's important for us and as concerns the church, it's distinguished. By nature, it does not sway. what we believe about Christ what the apostles believed about Christ it was either true or it is not there's no halfway similarly what Christ has commanded it's either true or it's not Christ either really came in the flesh or he did not he is either the way the truth and the life or he is not. For us, we know that it is true. The church, for us, we either have that truth or we don't. As I just said, we have that truth. So then the choice then that is there is do we abide by it? Do we abide by the teaching of Christ and all that God has given to us through Christ? Or do we go ahead with our own teachings? We're going to look a little bit more at that here in a second. But there's no middle ground for us in the church. There's no middle ground for us as Christians. And so it is with that in mind that an application of Christ's commandment for us to love one another is found in our protecting each other from lies, errors, and heresies. See, we laid this foundation of talking about the truth then we laid this foundation of understanding the commandment to love one another. This is certainly not the only way that that gets applied. But in regards to the text that we have here, it's one of the things that John is pulling out. He's pulling out. There's this connection because it seems when you read it that, oh man, he's going two different ways. But what's key is verse 7. That's the marking point of the shift. When he says, for many deceivers have gone out. So he ties this together with loving one another. And they seem like there are two sections that are disjointed, but they really are together. And by protecting each other, again, is the application of that loving. So how does that happen? Well, first it happens with awareness. The church being chosen by God, we obey Christ's commandment to love one another. And we seek to preserve that truth. But we need to be aware of what's going on. Verse 7, John is doing just that. He shows us that, or he tells his audience, those that are receiving, many deceivers have gone out into the world. And this is what they're doing. They do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. John is notifying them to be aware of this. and maybe they were already aware of this and John's just trying to validate that. Nonetheless, aware that this is going on. And the problem here with that and why we need to be aware of it or why they needed to be aware of it is because it was undermining Christ's ministry and teaching himself. It didn't match with what the apostles who were authorized by Christ to teach were teaching. And really, when it came down to it, these errant teachings were wrecking the gospel. See, if Christ is not who He said He was, then the gospel can't fully be true. We know from the gospel, and we know from our confessions, that flesh, blood, was required to atone for the sins of man. If Jesus was not in the flesh, he could not have fulfilled that requirement. See, this is not, again, some squabbling over just these ideological things or mysteries. It has a profound effect on everything. And John underscores this by saying, those that are coming with this, they have the spirit of the Antichrist. Now, my background has always been this. Anything that's evil, more or less, comes across as the most plain evil possible. If you want to think of maybe the picture of Satan, you know, it's pitchfork tongue, horns, tail, maybe even has a pitchfork as well on top of the tongue. You know, something that's so obvious. But that's not really how evil manifests itself all the time. Certainly there are the grotesquely evil things that go on. But the most dangerous evil comes in the form of deceivers. And they're most dangerous because they're very subtle. They sneak in. This is why the apostle felt that there needed to be this awareness of what was going on. now secondly in protecting each other love is vigilant loving one another in preserving the truth is being vigilant a way to love one another is dealing with the air and the truth right away john was not going to tolerate what was going on he was counseling his church to not tolerate these people coming in with errant teachings. When you read also in Paul, not just here, but you read Paul and even Peter, and really the other New Testament epistles, one of the things you get is this lack of tolerance and almost this personal feeling of when a false teacher comes along. This personal feeling of when these liars come in. It's like they're doing it directly to the leaders. And I feel like that's something that as believers we've gotten away from. We maybe distance ourselves if we're not directly involved. But any attack on the gospel or any attack on what it is that is true for us as Christians and what we hold dear. That is a personal thing for us too. Because as one body of Christ, we're watching other members getting attacked or being exposed to these lies. And so we come to verses 10 and 11. Love defends. The way that we do this and the way that we manifest this love of one another or one of the ways that we do this is defending look with me at verses 10 and 11 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 John says explicitly it's very strong language if someone comes and does not bring this teaching do not welcome them into your house and this is where i go back to the point that i made earlier considering if it seems disjointed are there two different things going on here with what john's talking about because in one breath he's saying love one another but in another he's telling them don't welcome anyone in that is if they're carrying false teaching this is an attitude that i believe pervades most of evangelical america this attitude of you know what we're not going to rock the boat we're going to be more charitable and we're going to hope maybe that it goes away on itself or on its own but what we see from the elder here is that's not the way to handle it. See, loving one another in the body means guarding each other. It doesn't mean shrinking back in the world. It means having, again, this vigilant mindset. And when I say vigilant, I'm not saying militant. There are those who certainly, especially in the Reformed camp, I know that's something that we get criticized for, for seeming to be militant and going over the top and seemingly looking to cause problems. But that's really not what I find most often is happening with those that get accused of it. What I find is happening is they're being vigilant and they're actually listening to what we have been told here in this letter by John to do. Being aware of what's going on. Not shrinking back, but confronting any error as it comes up. The argument often is then that, oh, those that do that, they're not nice. They're divisive. But what we see here is that it's the opposite. It's love. When leaders of the church stand up against these erroneous teachings that come in. They're not being mean. They're loving their flock. They're being true shepherds. But the thing is, in a pagan world, loving one another like this is going to look like hatred. So that's why we get accused like this. But I think John gives us even more credibility on this point. I don't know if your experience is like mine, but whenever I read John, it seems like John speaks more of this commandment to love one another than anyone else in comparison to other writers. It's there in his gospel. It's in his epistles. For me, there's times where I'm like, I get it. I get it. John was very clear to want to carry on that message from Christ. And that's true. As Christians, we are to love one another. That's absolutely what we've been commanded. We just looked at that earlier. But John is not naive, and John is not going to take any risks and let those that are Christ be subjected to error and false teaching. So if anyone is to be listened to here, obviously beyond Christ, John is a very good voice to listen to when it comes to these issues. Going further, as I mentioned, he uses really strong language. He asserts that to entertain such a teacher is participating in their wicked works. Another way of thinking about this is that when a church or a body of believers, when they entertain false teachings, they themselves are becoming partakers in it. That's essentially what John was telling them. That's strong. And that's almost counter-cultural to what we get today. We're to be charitable, absolutely. But if it's clear as day, John's counseling here is, no, have nothing to do with that. One of the things that seems to also come up often is that people are fear-mongering when they try to really do what John's saying and nip these things in the bud. But history tells us when it comes to the church that air and heresy, when it creeps in, the church entertains it, it dwells along if it's not dealt with. The main line, those churches, they don't look anything like the churches of even 100 years ago, let alone 200 years ago. One of the things I appreciate about being in the URC is that the URC, as a federation, has carried out this. That's why the URC exists. Understanding that when there's error that's coming in, it needs to be dealt with. so as we start to wrap up here one of the most loving things then that we can do as christians is protect each other when it comes to error now there's obviously innocent error that can happen i'm not saying anytime someone says wrong you jump on them or anything like that obviously there's room to grow but this is talking about those that are willfully coming in with intention. And I think that's also worth making clear here as we wind down. So, taking John's words from his first epistle, I thought a good way to wrap up this application of, or this one application of Christ's commandment, is to look at why, real briefly. In his first epistle, it says, we love because he first loved us. now with jesus he himself displayed this for us he displayed it when he came in his ministry and his confrontation with the pharisees and also with the sadducees and with those that were not following the way that's one way that we we see that carried out but also maybe more personally for us to consider is another thing the false teaching that the devil may even say to your own heart the teaching that you're not good enough and that you're too far gone that your sin is too much christ himself though he has dealt with that he dealt with that at the cross. See, Christ most embodied his love by coming to earth. Not just to live, but to die and rise and ascend. But he also taught us these things, and he instructs us. And make no mistake, John, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he's also writing things that Jesus himself would have embodied and commanded to them. So as we conclude tonight, as those called by God, we love one another because we know the truth and the truth that is ultimately in Christ and his gospel. We know that and we do this by walking obediently in the truth and we do it by preserving the truth. We love one another by not entertaining error, falsities. But we do it by caring for each other and helping each other to see the truth and pointing each other to Christ. Let's pray. Almighty God, we ask that you would just graciously grant that your word, which we have heard, may be inscribed inwardly in our hearts. As we receive your word meekly with pure affection, may our hearts be filled with love and reverence for you. Cause us to bear the fruit of the Spirit and to live in holiness, diligently following your commandments. And may it please you to use us to lead those who are lost, wandering, and confused into the way of truth. All this we pray for the honor and the praise of your name through Jesus Christ our Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.