Helps for Daily Life 14

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BIBLE STUDY 2: HELPS FOR DAILY LIFE

 

A SERIES:           THERE IS HOPE

LESSON 14:        2nd John THE THEME OF LOVE

 

I want us to study what may be the most neglected book in the entire New Testament. I've never heard a sermon on 2nd John and I have never heard 2nd John taught in any setting. I've made many references to it myself in many different studies and sermons through the years but I have never really done a complete study of this book. However, I believe there are some valuable lessons from God for our hearts in the little book of 2nd John.

 

John wrote five of the books of your New Testament.

  1. There is the Gospel of John, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and then there is the Revelation. The entire Christian life is encompassed in the writings of John.

  2. The Gospel points to the past and speaks to us of our salvation – (which is our forgiveness of sin and deliverance from hell and assurance of heaven.) The letters of John points to the present and they speak to us of our sanctification – (which is our being set apart to be dedicated to faithful service to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all things.)

  3. Then the Revelation points to the future and speaks to us of our glorification – (which speaks of our exaltation to heaven to heaven after our task and journey on earth is finished to be eternally with the Lord.)

 

Therefore, God used John as a human implement to speak to our hearts about the basic fundamentals of the Christian life. There are three words which summarize what the Christian life is all about in its past, present and future. The word which describes the past is the word, faith.

 

  1. BY OUR FAITH – We receive what Jesus did for us at Calvary's cross 2,000 years ago. So, in John's Gospel, John writes about faith in Jesus Christ believing that Jesus Christ is the son of God.

  2. BY OUR PRESENT – Love describes what should be the present attitude of every believer. In the letters of John he deals specifically with the subject of love. The Revelation deals with hope. Hope is the word that describes the attitude and the outlook of the Christian as he looks toward the days of the future.

  3. BY OUR FUTURE – Everyone who of us who has believed and received Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord before Jesus returns will be revealed through the rapture (or a catching up) to meet the Lord Jesus in the air, whether we are still alive or whether we are in the grave. This event will happen with the dead rising first and those who are still alive will immediately follow after to ever be with the Lord. We will worship and serve Him for eternity where there is no more sin, sorrow, suffering, sadness or shame but eternal glory and gladness.

 

Therefore, the Spirit of God used John to speak to us about faith, love, and hope. The little book of 2nd John is a little book which has some special lessons for us about love. THE GREATEST THEME IN ALL OF THE BIBLE IS THE THEME OF LOVE. There is no more important or greater theme. There is no greater characteristic of the Christian life than is the characteristic of love.

 

However, the little book of 2nd John is written to help us understand what real, genuine love is and at the same time the book is very careful that we do not misunderstand what love is really all about. This is clearly seen in the first three verses which are the introduction of 2nd John – “The elder (John talking about himself) unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; for the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us and shall be with us forever. Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.''

 

There is a trove of information in these verses upon careful investigation. There is very little debate about whom “the elder” is here. Almost all agree that this writer is John the beloved disciple. When he calls himself an elder he is using one of the terms to describe the pastor of a local congregation. John, in the latter days of his life, before he went home to be with the Lord, was the pastor of the congregation in Ephesus. Therefore, the elder is John the beloved pastor writing this letter.

 

There is a difference of opinion about the person to whom John is writing. What does John mean and to whom is John intend to be referring when he says he is writing unto the “elect lady”? I have found that there are two basic views. One view is that John is writing to a local church. There are those who feel the church here is the “Elect Lady.” Down in verse 13 where it says ''children of thy elect sister greet thee,'' it definitely appears that John is referring to a sister church and is sending greetings from one church to another church. From my point of view, the only problem with that position is that the church is not pictured in the Bible as having children. I do not find anywhere in the Bible where it makes reference to the children of the church. When we receive the Lord Jesus as our Savior we are born into “the family of God” and we become “a child of God,” we do not become a “child of the church.” That may sound like a play on words but it is not because there is a great difference. I could elaborate further on that but I feel you can probably understand what I mean.

 

The second view, of which I adhere and believe is more correct, is that John is writing to an actual Christian lady. He is writing a lady he has known or heard about. He knew her sister who was also a believer. He knew the children of that sister. He had met some of the children of this chosen or elect lady. Therefore, he was writing a letter, talking to her about some of the things which he had discovered.

 

It is interesting that John said in verse 4 - ''I rejoice greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.'' Somewhere along the way John, the pastor, had run into some of the children of this sweet Christian lady. Therefore John, seeing their devotion to the Lord and seeing them grow and mature in the things of the Lord, is grateful. Therefore, he is writing their Christian mother a letter and commending her for the way she has brought up these children in the things of Jesus Christ. If it is true that this is the only book in the entire Bible which is specifically addressed to a woman, it is a tremendous commendation of a Christian mother who has brought up her children in the things of the Lord. Here is a Christian mother who has taught her children the truth. She has taught them what love is all about. They are growing and maturing in the things of God and John is refreshed and blessed as he sees these young people as they are growing up in the Lord.

 

All of us should appreciate it when we see a family that has godly children. This letter which John writes to this Godly Christian woman is an encouragement to us in our day when it seems in most aspects almost possible to bring up children to love Jesus, to live for Jesus and to faithfully serve Jesus. In the day in which we live that is not an easy thing to do. Nevertheless, as difficult as it is we must keep in mind that when John was writing this particular letter he was writing in the midst of a society which was absolutely pagan and was also very difficult upon the Christian lifestyle. Nevertheless, here is a mother who succeeded.

 

Mothers, I want to encourage you with the example of this unknown Christian mother that you can do it as well. Dad, as difficult and impossible as it may seem, I want to encourage you with the example of this unknown Christian mother that you can do it as well also. I have met some of the sweetest, Godliest, most dedicated young people in our churches I have ever seen anywhere. I am encouraged greatly because I believe that it is largely due to the fact that there are some genuinely dedicated Christian mothers and fathers who have lovingly saturated their children's lives in prayer. These parents made it their priority early on and have taught their children the Word of God. These parents have taken their children to a Bible-believing church that has helped them get grounded in the faith and knowledge of the truth through the years. The result is evidenced in that the lives of their children now are an open testimony and approval of the power of Christ and the persuasion of a Christian home.

 

John is writing to this godly Christian mother and he is going to deal with two words which are very important in these verses. When we study down through the first four verses of this letter we see that he uses the word, “truth,” five different times. He said, (1) ''I love in the truth.'' (2) ''All those who have known the truth.’’ (3) ''For the truth's sake.’’ (4) ''Truth and love.''

 

We also see in these verses that he uses the word “love” four times. When we put these words together – “truth” and “love” - we get the emphasis which John intends in this little letter. He is simply saying here - I want to explain to you the meaning of “love” and I want you to understand what Christian love is.

 

John said in 2nd John 1:1 (KJV) “…I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth.” This is not romantic love. He's not saying he has a crush on her. It's the same as us saying today - I love you in the Lord or I love you in Jesus. John says ''I love you in the truth.'' I believe that little statement is the key to the entire message of this little book.

 

In verse 3 John closes out that greeting by saying ''in truth and love.'' Truth and love go together. We cannot separate the two. If we take love away from truth then we really don't have Christian love. If we take truth away from love Christian love is missing. For me, one of the disturbing things I hear a great deal about today in Christian circles is “It doesn’t matter our background or where we came from. We all ought to just lay aside our doctrinal convictions and the things we believe in Scripture and just love one another. We do not need to be all caught up in Bible doctrine and we need to just love one another.” Please do not misunderstand me because I agree that we all ought to love one another. There is absolutely too much bickering and division and a great deal too much strife among true believers. However, it is never a good idea, nor is it correct to lay aside Bible doctrine for love. Real love always operates in the sphere of the truth.

 

When John talks about the truth here, he is talking about the body of Christian belief. Jesus said, ''Thy Word is truth.'' In the Bible, the Word of God is the Truth of God. The whole body of Christian truth is contained in the pages of our Bible. In the book of the Revelation when John said that “No man is to add to this prophecy and no man is to take away from this prophecy,” he was in effect closing the Canon of Scripture. Therefore, within the pages of our Bible we have the sum, the substance, and the total of Christian truth. There can be no genuine love which operates outside the sphere of the Truth. Truth is the foundation of our faith. Truth is also the basis of love. Real love always is based on Truth.

 

Let me explain what I'm talking about. There was in a church where I pastored a middle aged couple whom I thought were man and wife. They had been visiting the church on a regular basis for a long time and from all outwardly appearances as a husband and wife they were very sweet and loving and all seemed to be well. By some means, one day it was brought to my attention that the couple was not married which is specifically forbidden in Scripture and it was a great concern to me. The Bible teaches that marriage is to be one man and one woman, we are not to commit adultery, we are not to commit fornification, we are not to be unequally yoked, and I could go on and on. What they were doing is what the Bible calls “chambering.” Our modern term for two people living together outside of marriage is called ''shacking up.'' It was a heavy burden upon my heart and so after much prayer I went to their house and made a visit. As the conversation progressed and the Lord opened the door, as lovingly as possible I began to talk to them and tell them exactly the Bible Truth. The lady seemed to be much more receptive than the gentleman and so I told them was that they needed to be right with God and to get things straight with God. I looked straight at her and told her that what she had to do was to tell that guy to move out. In saying that I was very aware of the fact that it might anger that man. However, the result of that conversation was that the man did get mad when the woman asked him to leave. Nevertheless, as the story progresses, later the couple came to my office one day and wanted to talk to me. The result was that I was able to share the Word of God with them both, told them how they could be saved, and they invited Jesus into their hearts. They came forward and made his public profession in the church on Sunday. As soon as they could get things worked out they were married and they started a Christian home in Truth and Love. There is never any genuine love apart from the truth. I could not not lay aside my doctrinal convictions and the things I believed in the Scripture. I stood by the Truth, God honored His Word, two people were saved by grace, and a Christian home began in Truth and Love. So, John says, ''I want you to know I love in the truth. My love is based on truth.'' That's the whole emphasis of this letter right here. Love in truth. Love on the basis of truth.

 

When we move on down in the body of this letter there are two great lessons about love and truth of which he wants us to get a hold.

 

  1. TRUTH AND LOVE MUST BE PRACTICED.

 

John said in 2nd John 1:4 (KJV) “I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.” That doesn't mean just literally walking but it means our lifestyle, our behavior, our daily life as a Christian. John says I saw your children walking in the truth. What does it mean to live in truth? What is the characteristic of the person whose life is filled with God's truth?

 

John said in 2nd John 1:5 (KJV) “And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.” John says I saw your children and they were living in truth. Therefore, he wants us to understand what the commandment is. He says it is not anything new. The commandment is to love one another. Love and truth must be put into practiced. Love and truth must be the characteristics of the lifestyle of the believer.

 

John said 1st John 3:23c (KJV) “And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” God's commandment is that we are to love one another.

 

In the Gospel of John 13:34, Jesus is with his disciples just before he's going to the cross. He's in the Upper Room. He's sharing with them what he wants them to do and the kind of lifestyle he wants them to live. So, Jesus said in John 13:34 (KJV) “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” 

 

Isn't it an amazing thing that God has to command us to love one another? If you have ever brought up children you can understand that is a part of being a parent. If you have ever had a little boy and a little girl in the same house you understand why you have to be commanded to love one another. They go through different stages of life. Have you ever said, ''Listen, son, love little sister.'' ''Love little brother.'' Children go through so many different stages of growth and development. One day you feel you have reached a mile stone and the next day you feel you are the worst parent on earth. As they grow up with the raging hormones, changing attitudes, sensitive emotions, insecurities, instabilities, and even overcompensated self-esteem sometimes we still have to have those difficult discussions about loving one another.

 

These old natures of ours don't want to love. I am not trying to be mean. I love children and I am just using this as an illustration to get my point across. We talk about those pretty little babies. My wife thinks I am crazy when I tell her I have never seen a new born baby I thought was pretty! You may think they are but I don’t! After they are a few days or weeks old, then we can talk about how pretty and how innocent they look. However, they are not nearly as innocent as they look. You just seriously think about it. That little baby born is into the world and you bring that precious, darling, cuddly, soft thing home and put it in a bassinet and everything is just right and wonderful. The company has come over with their oohh’s and aahh’s and have gone home and now you have turned in for a good night’s sleep. Then about 2:00 o’clock in the morning, it doesn't matter how sleepy you are, it doesn't matter how tired you are, it doesn't matter how early you have to get up in the morning, if that little fellow wants something to eat he'll wake you up from your needed sleep. He will cry to high heaven and he will keep it up until you go get a bottle and feed him because he is naturally selfish. By nature we do not love. Nevertheless, when we come to the Truth. When we receive the Truth of Jesus in our heart, the Bible says that the love of God dwells in the heart of the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit. God's love is in our heart as a Christian and we just have to open up the blocked channels of love and let the love of Jesus flow out to those around us and ''Love one another.''

 

Sometimes that's not as easy to live out as it is to talk about. ''To dwell above with saints we love, that will indeed be glory. To live below with saints we know, that's another story.''

 

When Jesus gave this command in John 13 the disciples had just had a fuss. They had been fussing on the way to the upper room about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God and they were so mad at one another that when it came time to do the common decency of washing feet, not a one of them would do it and Jesus had to do it. In the midst of that kind of environment Jesus said, ‘‘Love one another, by this men will know you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.'' That's how truth is practiced - by loving one another.

 

Back in 2nd John verse 6 we see what this love is. ‘‘And this is love...'' Wouldn't you like a definition of love? There are all kinds of definitions of love today. Everywhere you turn you hear about love. People everywhere from Poets, to Novelist, to Hip-Hop people, have their own amazing definitions of love. I guess I could give my own definition of love by relating it to the experience of the first time I ever kissed my wife chill bumps ran up and down the back of my spine so that must have been LOVE! However, soon I learned that her popcicle was dripping down my back so I don’t guess that would qualify – THAT WAS NOT LOVE - THAT'S CHILL BUMPS. (Just joking!)

 

John says “And this is love, that we walk after his commandments.” John says real love is obedience. Real love is obeying the Lord. Real love is walking in the truth. Real love is not an emotion, it is a choice. I choose to love you. God's love is in my heart therefore I choose to love you. By obeying God I am doing what God tells me to do.

 

Sometimes a Sunday School will get involved in a visitation program reaching out to those who are inactive. Many of the people of whom they will try to visit have never met Jesus and need to be saved. There are others who may know the Lord and have gotten away from the Lord. However, what about all of this masses of people out there who are not on our Sunday School roles or Church roles who have been in church before but never darken the doors of the house of God anymore? Their problem is a failure in love. They just don't love Jesus like they ought to love Him. John said, ‘‘we love Him because He first loved us.'' Love wants to know the truth about Jesus. Some of these dear people out there have just not loved Jesus the way they ought to love Him. The only way we are going to reach out to them is in love. We won't reach them by beating them over the head with a 10X12 King James Bible. We won't reach them by condemning them. Love begets love and when we love people we walk in the truth. When we love people we obey the commandments of the Lord and we go out and love and we say, ''God loves you and we love you and we want you to come and be a part of our fellowship. Truth and love must be practiced.

 

  1. TRUTH AND LOVE MAY BE PERVERTED.

 

2 John 1:7(KJV) For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 

 

''For many deceivers...'' The word, “deceivers,” is the word from which we get our word, planet. The word, “planet,” means a wandering star. The Greek word, “deceiver,” is a word that meant a wandering teacher. In those days there was a large number of these wandering vagabond teachers. They just popped up everywhere and they were teaching all kinds of doctrines and all kinds of what they called truth. Keep in mind that the entire canon of Scripture had not been written at that particular time. There was no New Testament as such. There were some books that had been written in the earlier years of the first century, but was no completed New Testament such as you and I hold in our hands. Therefore, these wandering so-called preachers came with their doctrines and they were teaching all kinds of digressions from the truth. There were all kinds of perversions of the truth.

 

Therefore, John deals with these teachers and teachings head on. He says “For many deceivers are entered into the world…” Here is how we spot a deceiver, a perverter of the truth, or a false teacher. They “confess not (they deny) that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an Antichrist.”' There were those who were teaching that Jesus Christ was not really a person. These were the Gnostics or unbelievers. They believed that the body was evil. They believed flesh was evil; therefore, God could not have taken up a body. That God could not have tainted himself with a human body, so they said Jesus was not a real person, just a phantom, or a ghost. In fact, some of them went so far as to say that when he walked he didn't' even make a footstep. Others said Jesus was a flesh and blood man and the divine Christ inhabited him on the earth until he went to the cross, then the divine Christ deserted him and Jesus died as a mere mortal man on the cross.

 

It is easy for us to see what that does to the Christian faith. John says in the first chapter of the Gospel of John ''the Word (The Eternal Christ) was made flesh and dwelt among us.'' He walked and talked among men. Jesus Christ was as much man as if he had not been God. He was as much God as if he had not been man; he was the God-man and the man-God. He was very God and very man. Anyone who tampers with the deity of Jesus, anyone who denies that Christ is come in the flesh as the Savior of the World, John says “This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”

 

He warns us in verse 8 “Look to yourselves that you lose not those things which you have wrought, but that you receive a full reward.” He is saying that if you tamper with error and get away from the truth, you may not lose your salvation, but you will lose your reward.

 

He says in verse 9 “whosoever transgresseth...” The word means to go before or go beyond. He is talking about those people who go beyond the doctrine of Christ. That's the characteristic of every cult on this earth. Every cult comes along and goes beyond the doctrine of Christ. They go beyond the doctrines of the Word of God. Every cult claims they have some new information. They have a new book that's been hidden all these years and they just found a new revelation. Some new prophet just discovered this which has been hidden all through the centuries. There are some people in this world who think they are smarter than Jesus Christ. When you go beyond the teachings of the Word of God and go beyond what Jesus Christ had to say about it, you've gone too far.

 

We talk about liberals and modernist - those terms are not used in the Bible. There is no such thing as a liberal Christian taught in the Bible. We hear about these folks who deny the virgin birth of Jesus. They deny the shed-blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. They deny salvation by grace through faith. We talk about a liberal Christian. Look at what John says in verse 9: “9Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God” He is saying they are not saved. They need to get born again.

 

John says in verse 10, “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed.” This is how these false teachers operate. This is where a lot of folks get inactive and many get caught up in error. These people will go house to house either by car or on bicycles and some will be on foot and in the airports. Most of the false cults are wrong in their head and right in their feet. The Bible teaches us we ought to visit. We ought to go house to house. Isn't it amazing that Christians have missed that. When a church has people in it that go visiting, folks think that's an amazing thing. That's just the way it's supposed to be. That is to be the normal practice of Christianity – we are to be right in our feet. However, the cults are more right in their feet than we are. They normally knock on a church members door on Sunday morning. Why? Because they know that is when all of the backslidden Baptists are home. They don't know their Bible and they are not right with God so they come knocking on their door. What are we to do in the event that some of these people come knocking on our door at any time? Are we going to invite these people in, serve them a cup of coffee, a glass of tea, invite them to a meal, and just love these folks?

 

Pay real close attention to what John says about it in verses 10 and 11. ''If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of (is in fellowship with) his evil deeds.'' That's so harsh! That's so unloving! Brother John, you don't love people! Listen, John was called the Apostle of Love. There was a heretic in John's day, a cultist, a false teacher named Sarenthis. One day John was at the bathhouse and Sarenthis walked in. John jumped up out of the water, got his clothes and towels, and took off running. He said, ''let us hurry from this house lest it fall on us. Sarenthis the enemy of truth is here.'' He took off home.

 

You think that's unloving? Let's just suppose you have a little 6 or 7-year-old boy at your house. One day somebody knocks at your door. You go to the door. The person says, ''I understand you have a 6 or 7 year old boy.'' You say ''Yes I do.'' This person says, ''I'm a homosexual and I just heard you had a 6 or 7 year old boy and I would like to volunteer to come by and talk to your boy and teach your boy and train your boy once a week to become a homosexual.'' What would you do? Don't you love the homosexuals?

 

On the other hand, maybe a guy comes by and says, ''I understand your child is in the hospital.'' You say, “Yes, I have a child in the hospital.” The guy says, ''I understand He needs some blood.'' You say, ''Yes, that's right, he needs some blood.'' The guy says, ''I'm a homosexual with AIDS, I'll be glad to give him some blood.'' You might say, “Well, that is different!” What's different about it? Why is it important to see that you don't let the poison of that tainted blood get into your child but you do not see the importance of making sure that tainted false doctrine doesn’t get in your home? You don't' have to be rude. You don't have to be impolite. You don't' have to be inconsiderate. I've often wondered what would happen if every time one of those false cultist who deny the Word of God, came to a house you just very lovingly said to them, ''I'm sorry, but we believe the Word of God, you can't come in.'' What would happen if they got about 100 doors like that in a day's visiting. Don't you think it might make them wonder perhaps they were wrong? It is a dangerous to be confused about the truth because of the Devil’s poisonous lies.

 

There was a young girl who graduated in the top of her senior class in high school. Very attractive blond-headed young lady, outstanding basketball player, fine athlete. In recent weeks she has been having some difficulty. Some boys had been bothering her. Her father bought her a gun to protect herself. One weekend she and some friends were out at a drive-in restaurant and she and another friend - and the boys were there. She picked up the gun and her friend said, ''You better be careful with that gun.'' She said, ''Oh, don’t worry, there's a safety on it.’’ Playing around with it she pulled the trigger and blew herself into eternity. Don't be confused about the truth. It can be deadly.

 

If you want to know the truth - the truth is Jesus died on the cross for you. The truth is He shed His blood at Calvary just for you. The truth is if you will repent of your sin and personally invite Jesus into your heart, you'll be saved.

 

If you haven’t already, I want to invite you to receive Jesus as your Savior.

 

DO YOU NEED SOME HELP?

To find more help in receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior please go to the Bible Study Title Page “ETERNAL LIFE.” Please send me an email and let me know about any decision for Christ you make so that I may pray for you. Feel free to send me any questions, comments, or responses you may have as well. For those who are already Christians I invite you to also please let me know of any decisions you make in your Christian life for Jesus. Please send me your questions, comments, or responses and let me know if the Bible Studies are helping you.

<rfdenning1951@gmail.com>

 

ALWAYS REMEMBER!

The support of your local Church ministry and the ministry of your Pastor should be the first priority of your Christian life and your service to the Lord. Be faithful to prayerfully prepare and attend Sunday School and Worship Service this Sunday and participate in worship as your Pastor preaches the Word. Do not forget to give the Lord at least your TITHE through your local church from your gross income – that is your first fruits. Any other other giving is an offering to a ministry unto the Lord. Honor the Lord in all you do and with all that you have. Always remember that everything you have and all you are belongs to the Lord. It is on loan to you – so manage it well! There will be an audit one day! Make sure the Books Balance!

 

All Bible Studies Are Prepared by Pastor Frank Denning And May Be Be Used By Permission.