Love the Truth
2 John
October 7, 2001
Introduction
As I was praying about what God would have me cover over the next few weeks before entering the Christmas season, I was impressed with the idea that we should spend some time in what I call “the little guys,” or small books of the Bible that get little or no attention from most pulpits.
So I thought, “Why not?” There is a ton of truth in these books, or God would not have put them in the Bible in the first place, amen?
So today we are going to look at the book of 2 John, toward the end of the Bible. Next week we will probably go to 3 John, then Jude, then possibly on to Philemon, and then we will see from there.
The book of 2 John, which, if you’re using the Bibles in the seats, can be found on page 864, is only 13 verses long.
Yet in this short book are some truths that are of major importance, and it will do us good to look at them.
My purpose this morning is to bring home to each of you just how important the truth really is, and why it must be defended.
Let’s read the whole book, shall we? And you can leave here today saying that your pastor can cover a whole book of the Bible in one sermon.
Now that’s something to brag about at lunch, huh?
Please follow along as I read:
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.
In our attempt to get a handle on the importance of truth, I want to cover two main points and the first is that we can…
I. Triumph in the Truth. (vv. 1-6)
A. Why is the truth so important?
There is a movement out there that says truth is relative. In other words, what may be true for you may not be true for me.
It’s called relativism, and it is very dangerous.
Let me give you an example of why this is so dangerous.
We generally believe that life is sacred, and that the weak should be protected.
Yet there are others who believe that the weak are not to be protected, only exploited for the benefit of the strong.
A practical application of this would be a society where if you are ill, and recovery looks “impractical” in the eyes of the decision-makers, than you will be denied care, or killed outright.
Another example occurred during World War II, where the Nazis decided that the Jews and others standing in their way were to be eliminated.
They were of no use to the super-race they were attempting to establish. So they murdered millions of men, women, and children.
Stalin murdered even more than Hitler.
We cry out against such injustice, yet they say they have as much right to their point of view as we have.
The relativist says that all truth is equal. Yet we shudder at what some would call truth.
A number of years ago, my favorite sermon illustration, Sam Crabtree, and I met with a couple of young Mormon missionaries.
Sam asked the key question of our time together:
How do you determine what is true and not true? You say your beliefs are true, and we say ours are. They cannot both be true, so how do you determine what is true?
They answered, “By prayer and the Holy Spirit.”
Sam replied, “I believe you pray, and I know Brian and I pray, but we are coming up with different answers. What objective standard do you have to determine truth?”
They had no answer.
The Bible stands the test of time and science. Other books from these groups don’t. It’s that simple.
Jesus addresses the issue of truth in John 8:31-31 -
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
What sets us free? Opinion? No! Truth sets us free.
I want to be very straightforward here. Many would claim that Christianity is true for the white man. Or the American. Or the Non-African. Or whatever.
But Jesus said that He was the way and the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him.
Now folks, either that is true, or it’s not. And it’s either true for everybody, or it’s true for nobody.
There is no way around it.
There is no room for relativist “truth” when it comes to the claims of Christ and the Scriptures.
But here’s something else we need to keep in mind: truth must be spread around so that all may hear it.
I heard a speaker say once that it is not the truth that sets you free, it’s the truth that you know.
Jesus said you would know that truth and it would set you free.
The truth is that Christ came to save the world by paying the penalty for sin.
However, if someone does not know the truth, they cannot act on it. That is why it is so important to take the gospel to everyone we can, both here and abroad.
People around the world are dying without the opportunity to hear the good news of Christ, and they will spend eternity in hell.
We need to get the truth out to people!
Make no mistake, truth is not relative, it is of utmost importance. It means the difference between heaven and hell.
And we need to pass it on to future generations. In verse 4 John says that he has seen some of the people walking in the truth, and it gives Him great joy.
May that be our legacy as well, to be known as people who walk in truth and pass it down.
A while back, when Noble was just a little guy, he was visiting with some of my co-workers in Brookings.
It was close to Christmas, and one of the ladies asked if he was excited about what he will be getting from Santa.
Noble replied, “Santa is a lie from Satan.”
The lady was taken aback, and when the kids had gone, she said to me, “Boy, you sure have your kids brainwashed, don’t you?”
I replied, “Well, if I lie to them about Santa when they are young, what will they think when I tell them about God?”
She saw my point.
We need to walk in truth so that our children and those we influence will want to walk in it as well.
Truth is important. John then goes on to remind these people about a certain command:
B. The command – love.
He says the command is not really new.
Let’s re-read verses 5-6:
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.
There’s an interesting cycle here: The command is to love, and to love is to obey. So to obey the command is to love. And to love is to obey the command.
The diagram in your outline would put it this way:
The cycle: Obedience > Love >Obedience.
Because obedience leads to love, which leads to obedience, which is love in the first place.
The idea here is that we are to love. Okay? Okay.
Next let’s move from the triumph of the truth to the…
II. Danger in Deceit. (vv. 7-11)
In New Testament times, as in our time, traveling philosophers and religious teachers were a common sight.
Christian teachers also traveled and relied heavily on local believers for support and hospitality. But the readers of 2 John were urged to be discriminating. (BKC - NT, p.908)
There were plenty of people who were passing out heresy and misinformation about Christ, and the people being addressed here were to be very careful to not aid in the spreading of these errors, either by believing them, or by aiding them by showing them hospitality.
Showing hospitality back then was more than just saying hello. It generally involved staying at your house and providing for their needs while they were there.
In 1 John, those who brought truth were to be welcomed, but here we see the warning to not do so for deceivers.
But how are we to know the difference? By knowing your Scriptures.
It is said that when the Treasury Dept. of the federal government trains its agents to spot counterfeit bills, they don’t give them counterfeit bills to study, they give them real bills. They learn that puppy frontwards and
backwards; so well that when they see a fake, they can recognize it immediately.
When we are familiar with Scripture, we can learn to spot phony doctrine a mile away.
But the apostle gives us a big clue here in verse 7, and that is to…
A. Know how to test for truth.
Read along in verse 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.
By the way, John is not talking about the Antichrist, who will come to deceive the whole world. In 1 John, he tells us that there are many antichrists out there.
But here is the test: ask if they believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh.
That seems like a no-brainer, but let me tell you that you will be surprised at the answers you get.
Because the issue is that the word “Christ” means “anointed one” or “messiah” and for someone to admit that Jesus is the Christ and that He came in the flesh is to admit that Jesus was what He claimed, and therefore to be believed and obeyed.
Not a simple thing for those who oppose the message of the Bible.
They may say that Jesus came in the flesh, but it is harder to say that Jesus Christ came, because of the term “Christ.”
It is also possible they may say the words, but pressing them brings out the truth.
If they do not believe Christ came in the flesh, you are not to open your house to them to stay and work out of.
But the question arises, “Then what do I do when they come to my door?”
That’s a great question.
There are two main answers to that question.
The first is to gently tell them you are not willing to talk, and that you would appreciate it if they did not return.
Do this politely, yet firmly.
The second is to engage in conversation with them. But you must not attempt this unless you are equipped to discuss their errors and the truth of the Scriptures, and only if you are covered in prayer.
It is not easy to share truth with those who follow false teachings, and it must be done only with great care, and great preparation.
So how do we do this? Let’s look at…
B. Discussing deception with the deceived.
We don’t have time to discuss how a conversation would go between you and a cultist, but the main issue is preparation, first by immersing yourself in the Scriptures, and second, by learning about the particular group you encounter.
After becoming prepared, then during your conversation, you must follow regular Scriptural principles of speech, such as being gracious, with your speech seasoned with salt, looking to benefit the person you’re talking with.
Your motive should never be to embarrass or shame someone into giving up and agreeing with you.
They need to see that your concern is not to win the argument, but to win their soul to Christ, using the Scriptures and relying on the Holy Spirit.
But what about not having them in your house?
First of all, the idea of having them in your living room to discuss truth is a far cry from putting them up in your house, feeding them, and supporting their efforts.
I am not afraid to have them in my living room, and I hope that as they enter they will sense the love of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
But if you are fine with talking with them, yet are not comfortable meeting in your house, then take them to coffee somewhere and talk.
But whether you talk to them or not, they need to hear the truth, and if not from you, then who?
It’s not something you do lightly, or thinking you will finish in one meeting. It takes time and commitment to develop the relationships necessary for trust to come around.
But I can also tell you the effort is worth it.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it. We are to love each other and we are to love the truth.
The Bible says that Satan has veiled the minds of unbelievers, so they do know see the truth.
But God is powerful to overcome that barrier, and He is counting on us to be involved.
Love each other and love the truth. And watch what God does as we seek to impact this area with the gospel of eternal life and changed lives in Christ.
Before we go, I want to visit briefly with any here who may have been influenced by groups who call themselves Christian yet deny the Bible as the Word of God, and that Jesus Christ, truly God came to earth in the flesh as a man.
Jesus Himself claimed that He was the way, the truth, and the life. He said that no one comes to the Father except through Him.
We cannot rely on Joseph Smith, Charles Russell, Herbert Armstrong, Buddha, Mohammed, or any other person.
Only the Son of God can make us children of God, giving us forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
And whether you belong to one of these groups or not, the truth is still the same. Christ paid the penalty for your sins and makes heaven possible for each and every one of us.
Call on Christ for forgiveness, trusting in His grace to give you eternal life in heaven, from this day forward, turning from your sins with His help.
And may the truth of the Word of God burn brightly in your heart as you seek to honor Him in your life.
Shall we pray.
