As we continue through some of the smallest letters in the New Testament, we come to two of the letters written by the apostle John. But before we get to his writings, let¡¦s look at John, and how he was changed by Jesus.
John is thought by most to be the youngest of the disciples. I would imagine that in his BC state (before Christ) he had some self-centeredness. But then again, who doesn¡¦t? But toward the end of Jesus ministry we see it when he was plagued with a need to place self on the throne of significance.
In Matthew 20 Jesus is explaining what is going to happen in the next week. Even though his followers have been with Him for three years they still don¡¦t get it, so He explains some things it clear terms. Listen to what he says: Matthew 20:17-19
Jesus took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, [18] "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death [19] and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"
That is pretty clearly spelled out, don¡¦t you think? But they were still thinking earthly throne, political overthrow of Rome, put Israel back where it belongs. Even though he clearly said that he would be turned over to the Gentiles and crucified, they just didn¡¦t get it.
In fact, their understanding was so far off that John, along with his brother James, started to scramble for the best seats. (With the help of their mommy.) Matthew 20:20-21
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
Even her mannerisms as she approaches Jesus are like you would approach an earthly king. But she is asking for a blank check.
[21] "What is it you want?" he asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."
They could sense the end was coming and they wanted the best places, the highest honor, they wanted to be the main men. Think about that, they have just been told that Jesus is going to be crucified and they ask for the left and right seats. Those ¡§seats¡¨ did end up being occupied, but I don¡¦t think there was a long line wanting those ¡§seats.¡¨ Two thieves received them.
But what I wanted you to see there in John was the selfishness of asking for the best seats, the most honored positions. Even this close to the crucifixion, John was selfish, just like you and me!
But there was another more telling moment for John. In fact, this was a defining moment. This moment defined his attitude and life before he grasped what Christ was all about.
In Luke 9 John feels threatened. Luke 9:49-56
"Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us."
This guy wasn¡¦t part of the club, he wasn¡¦t doing it right, and John thought it should stop. Surely it would be easy to enlist Jesus¡¦ help, but Jesus said,
[50] "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."
In the next verse in Luke 9 we read of this account.
[51] As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. [52] And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; [53] but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. [54] When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" [55] But Jesus turned and rebuked them, [56] and they went to another village.
Granted, these were Samaritans. But calling down fire to destroy them is a little drastic. Many believe it is because of this suggestion to call down fire that John and James receive their nick name, The Sons of Thunder. It was the defining moment in John¡¦s life BC. Let¡¦s burn the place up! Let¡¦s show our power and what¡¦s coming to the rest of the world if they don¡¦t get out of our way. He has a mafia mentality and he¡¦s going to be in charge of the world.
So remember that man, that son of thunder calling down fire from heaven as we fast forward to almost 60 years later, that same man writes this: 1 John 3:11
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
That is such a drastic change that it is almost humorous, don¡¦t you think? But there¡¦s more. That wasn¡¦t just a slip of the tongue, a temporary shot of niceness.
1 John 3:23
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
1 John 4:7
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:11-12
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [12] No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
2 John 1:5
And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
Can you believe that is written by the same guy who wanted to call down fire from heaven and destroy an entire city? From ¡§burn them up¡¨ to ¡§dear children, let us love them up.¡¨ John discovered what we long for, love, true love grounded in truth can change us and the world.
So by the time you journey through the corridors of Scripture and arrive at John¡¦s letters, you imagine John as a loving grandfather, rather than a fiery zealot. Maybe, even more than Peter, John changed the most. His dramatic transformation went from one who condemned to one who accepted others. He switched from harsh judgment to tender love. John¡¦s personality and purpose became one of love and grace, based on truth. And that¡¦s the road we need to take today in our lives.
A road that will lead us to a deliberate determination of our will to love others with a foundation of truth. What John writes is consistent with the two greatest commands (according to Jesus), love God and love each other.
With that thought in mind, let¡¦s read his second letter.
2 John 1:1-13
The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth--and not I only, but also all who know the truth-- [2] because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: [3] Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
[4] It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. [5] And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. [6] And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
[7] Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. [8] Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. [9] Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. [10] If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. [11] Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
[12] I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
[13] The children of your chosen sister send their greetings.
As we sift through this brief letter of John¡¦s we discover what love is. He writes to ¡§the chosen Lady.¡¨ I believe the chosen lady is a church, specifically the church in Rome. He closes his letter with ¡§the children of your chosen sister send their greetings.¡¨ I believe the chosen sister is the church in Ephesus of which he was an elder. The letter is written during a time of severe persecution of Christians from the Roman government. And in the midst of persecution, even personal suffering for the cause of Christ, John writes, ¡§love one another.¡¨
Now this love that John speaks of is much different than the love we know today. Our love is rooted in feelings, it finds its release through the heart. But the love of John flows from the head. The love Jesus refers to when he says, ¡§a new command I give you is to love one another,¡¨ is not a love that has any sensation in the heart but it is a cognitive, determination of the will to decide to love another person.¡¨
For some reason in our world today, if we love out of duty we take offense at that. We¡¦re offended that someone feels they have to love us¡Kbut Jesus said, ¡§out of duty, out of my choice, I love you.¡¨ The decision to love another is a high form of love. I could decide to love another. I could decide not to love. But when we hear or use the word love, often times there is a warm sensation, it is a sentimental love and because we have decided to use this kind of love we find it easy to justify why we might not act lovingly to others.
If you talk about me and I find out¡K.we think, because I don¡¦t feel love in my heart for you that it¡¦s okay for me not to love you. But John tells us to love one another, to decide to love you anyway¡Kit¡¦s a choice.
Much like the Virginia Tech Professor who gave his life this week.
The headlines read¡K
Courageous final act of professor
Fatally shot as he protects students
As Israel observed Holocaust Day, thousands of miles away, A Rumanian-born Holocaust survivor gave his life in another senseless murder - and apparently in an act of heroism.
Among the 32 people killed by a lone gunman at Virginia Tech Monday is 76-year-old engineering professor, Liviu Librescu, a citizen of Israel. According to eyewitness accounts, Librescu ran to the door of his classroom and blocked it with his body. He was trying to stall so his students could get out of the windows. He temporarily prevented the gunman from entering, but he got shot to death through the door. He died, trying to protect the students.
Greater love has no man than this¡Kthat a man lay down his life for his friends¡K.but there is a greater love¡Kthat a man lay down his life for those who are not his friends¡K.that kind of love is a love of choice¡K.a love of the will. Here¡¦s a man, to our knowledge who is not a Christian, I don¡¦t think that he had a warm feeling toward all of those students. He probably didn¡¦t even know them outside of the classroom. But he made a decision of the will, a loving decision, to love as Christ loved; to love deliberately. I doubt that his love was based on a warm feeling, but I¡¦ll tell you this, I know his love was not based on a warm feeling at that moment! He decided to love.
Think about that, and then think about how often we in the modern church struggle with loving someone who doesn¡¦t agree with us, or who says something negative about us to others¡Kwe think we are exempt from loving that person ¡K because we don¡¦t feel like loving someone who has hurt us. I don¡¦t think John was talking about a feeling at all. He was talking about a decision of our will.
So John outlines for us the type of love that mature Christians will possess.
First, Christians love those who are Christian¡Kwe have no choice.
John writes; To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth--and not I only, but also all who know the truth--
Vs. 5 I ask that we love one another.
Now John writes this in a grandfatherly, nice way. But it is not really a request, it is a command.
He is not saying, ¡§will you please love one another? Pretty please with sugar on top?¡¨ We know that he is just being nice, you must love one another!
Did you ever have those times when you couldn¡¦t stand your brother or sister and you would tell your mom to get rid of them? Maybe your mom told you that you had to love your sister because she was your sister. That made absolutely no sense to you. How can you love someone just because they are your sibling?
John tells us¡K.if someone is walking in the truth of Christ, in other words if they are our spiritual sibling, we don¡¦t have a choice¡Kwe must love them.
You might find some Christians weird. They might have a personality that rubs you the wrong way. They might have even done something, or said something, that hurt you. There might even be another Christian in this room that you avoid. ¡§Do I have to love them?,¡¨ you ask. Yes! I know you don¡¦t want to hear that, but I am just repeating what John and Jesus taught, you must love them. Even when you do not feel like it, you make a choice, a decision of the will, to love them.
John also explains mature love in this manner¡K
Christians love others to accept the truth¡K.it is our only purpose.
Look at verses 4-5.
[4] It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. [5] And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
I believe that the church in Rome, even in the middle of painful persecution was experiencing so much growth because the Christians in the church at Rome were loving others when they didn¡¦t deserve to be loved. I think the Christians there loved when they didn¡¦t feel like loving and because of that love, the church there produced ¡§children¡¨, produced other Christians walking in the truth¡Kall because of love.
It is also this that will lead people to Christ. I think that everything the church does should point people, even non-Christian people, to Jesus. When John talks about their children walking in the truth, I don¡¦t think he is talking about their physical children, but about their spiritual children, those who have come to Christ through the work of that church.
Love, not condemnation, makes disciples. Love reproduces other Christians, not strict rules and covenants and contracts. Jesus said that others will know we are His by the way we love them.
Does that mean that we sometimes don¡¦t tell them the truth? Do we overlook sin and just love them to Christ? No. That is why John said, ¡§It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth. You have to have the truth, but you have to have it with love.
We are to love others to Christ. That one theme should consume us.
My sermon writing partner, Scot, has a son that has some hearing issues. His first grade teacher played a huge role in their family. She took some extra time with their son his first and second grade years of school because of those hearing issues which create some unique classroom issues. As his first and second grade years rolled by Scot¡¦s wife volunteered in his classroom and developed a deep friendship with Seth¡¦s teacher. They have remained friends and Scot¡¦s wife Linda has just been planting seeds with her and this past Tuesday night Scot baptized Vickie into Christ. That friendship took four years of watering a seed and spending time with Vickie before Linda saw the fruit. As Vickie went through a divorce Linda was there for her¡Kbecause she loves Vickie. That love, four years later produced another Christian. That¡¦s our purpose and that¡¦s why we love.
But John adds something else ¡K
Christians love by practicing obedience¡Kthis is our fruit of maturity.
[6] And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
Jesus said, ¡§If you love me, you will obey me.¡¨ Does that mean when we don¡¦t obey him, we don¡¦t love him?
To Jesus, obedience to Him is the mark of our love for Him. Do you want to prove to Jesus that you love Him, don¡¦t sing louder, obey more. Don¡¦t become busier with service, do what he commands. Don¡¦t try and sound spiritual, just act obedient.
One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is about Saul, the king of Israel, and Samuel. Saul is the first King of God¡¦s people. It is early in his kingship and he is told to go and fight the Amalakites. God tells him to completely destroy them. Here is what he was told: 1 Samuel 15:3
Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.
I know that sounds mean, I don¡¦t want to take the time to give you the reasons, but that is the command. But Saul doesn¡¦t obey. This is what he does: 1 Samuel 15:9
But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs--everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
Do you see what they did? They got rid of everything that was not useful. I am not sure why he spared the king, but he spared everything else because it was worth something. But here is the best part. Samuel, the prophet, comes to him to see what he has done. 1 Samuel 15:13-14
When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’S instructions." [14] But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
Let me translate. Saul said, ¡§I did what the Lord told me to do.¡¨ But Samuel says, ¡§then why am I hearing sheep? Why am I hearing cows? Am I hearing things?¡¨
No worry ¡K Saul has an excuse. It is for worship ¡K it is for sacrifice ¡K it is so that he would have something to bring to God. 1 Samuel 15:15
Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
Notice he says that the soldiers brought them, but we totally destroyed the rest!
Samuel expresses God¡¦s displeasure and Saul reinforces his point: 1 Samuel 15:21-22
The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.
He is still blaming the solders, but also emphasizing that it is for God. And here is what Samuel says to him ¡K and I believe to us as well:
[22] But Samuel replied: ¡§Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.¡¨
Don¡¦t get me wrong, God loves it when we sing praises. He loves it when we sacrificially give. But he loves it even more when we obey. To obey is better than sacrifice. To obey is the most loving thing you can do!
How much did this bother God? It is at that point that God removes him from being king. He still has the throne for a few more years, but not in God¡¦s eyes.
When you allow sin to stay in your life, it will break your fellowship with God.
Another trait of a mature Christian ¡K
Christians love by lifting up Jesus at all cost¡K.He is our passion.
[7] Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. [8] Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. [9] Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. [10] If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. [11] Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
The center of Christianity is Jesus Christ¡Kan athlete can talk about God all he wants¡Kbut don¡¦t pay attention to what they say about God because God has become a generic term¡K what do they say and think about Jesus?
Everyone talks about God¡Kbut what do you do with Jesus? Deceivers, who are termed wicked by John, deny who Jesus really is. They take away the deity of the Christ and refuse to recognize Him as Lord and God in the flesh.
I don¡¦t know if you heard the reference to Jesus in the Virginia Tech gunman¡¦s video, but he said that he was like Jesus, a martyr in his death. Not even close! Jesus died because of love. That gunman died because of hate. The two don¡¦t even belong in the same sentence!
When someone down plays the role of Jesus, we need to stand up and correct them. If we love the Christ, we¡¦ll defend Him. You don¡¦t have to be perfect to defend Him, just in love with Him.
If someone says something negative about your child, I bet you jump to their defense¡K even if what was said is true. How much more do we need to jump to the side of Jesus when what is said about Him is a lie? Even if you do not have all the answers, even if you¡¦re confused¡K.defend Jesus¡Kjust because you or I might not understand all the truth or be able to respond to every argument, we can love Jesus enough to lift Him up when others knock Him down.
CONCLUSION
Love is a choice, a deliberate, determination of our will to give to another. When John says to love, he¡¦s not saying, ¡§when you feel good about loving.¡¨ He¡¦s saying you love over and over and over again.
If I love, I won¡¦t complain about others who are Christian. You see I don¡¦t have a choice if I¡¦m in Christ. I¡¦m not allowed to complain about other Christians. You have to make a determination to love those in the church¡Kwe don¡¦t have a choice.
You cannot complain and cause division because if you love Christ like you claim you love Christ¡Kyou will decide to love other Christians simply because they are Christian, not because you agree with them.
According to John, those who cause division are considered wicked¡Kthose who try to drive a wedge between Christians and church leadership are not to be associated with¡Kbecause love is hard enough as it is, Christians cannot be making it harder.
Love is the magnet of bringing other people to Jesus. Never has condemnation of sin led someone to Jesus Christ. Never in the history of the church has complaining about the church led someone to Jesus Christ. That¡¦s why Jesus and John always tell us¡K.love one another. John said that it was because of love that the church in Rome produced ¡§children¡¨ in other words, led people to Jesus. Love leads people to Jesus and if we are not directly assisting in leading people to Jesus then maybe we are not mature in our love yet.
Love is obedience. I keep telling my wife that if she loves me she will obey meļ If my kids love me they will obey me right? Sometimes, maybe even most times, obedience is out of duty and if I have any sense of responsibility to the Christ I will prove my love to him by obeying him.
And love is standing up for Christ¡Kif someone drags my Lord down, I lift Him back up. Love is boldness out of duty even when afraid, to lift Jesus up.
Maybe I¡¦ve been ignoring my salvation by setting aside and pleasing my self through selfish talk, pleasing my self through worldly pleasures, refusing to obey the Christ, and hiding when others pull Christ down.
Maybe when another Christian has a problem or complaint we need to start saying, ¡§Now what does this have to do with leading people to Jesus Christ?¡¨ This is about Jesus and he loved us when we were not loveable and John tells us that if we are saved, if we are Christians, then we will quit ignoring this great salvation we possess and start loving like Christ loved us.
Maybe you need to accept His love today so you can start loving like Christ loved us.
