We're in the Book of Second John
one more time, and we're gonna start this morning by reading
the first three verses of the Book of Second John. It says,
the elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love
in the truth, and not only I, 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. And we're just looking
at, we're gonna look at this verse number three, the third
verse today, primarily, and as it started out, as we looked
last time, that John writing to the, apparently to this woman,
the and her elect children, elect woman and her children, and that
said that love in the truth, and also all they that have known
the truth, writing to all believers. And as this book is written to
this elect lady, I believe it is written also to all of God's
elect. children wherever they be. If
this was written personally to this elect lady, as she's called,
it certainly does apply to all believers. And as the scriptures
we have seen over time, the scriptures are written for the admonition
and teaching of God's people and for the glory and placing
God in the view of man as it should be, as that the scriptures
foretell and tell us about him. And it says, for the truth's
sake, verse two, which dwelleth in us and shall be with us forever.
And the truth's sake that it's speaking of here, as we looked
at, is the truth in the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who is
the truth, and is the way, the truth, and the life, as we looked
into that. And it says also, which dwelleth
in us, the truth that dwells in us and shall be with us forever.
Again, speaking to that, the thought that we've looked at
in other places that the elect of God are not up to a whim or
to the changeableness of who we are, but is in God's hand
and he indeed those that are his elect children, he will call
and he does bring them to himself and does give them the new birth. And that is something that isn't
changeable. Once the new birth and the eyes
are opened to who he is, that's how it is. We are so variable
in ourself, but that salvation is not dependent upon how steady
we are at of ourselves or it's all dependent and kept. As we
saw a couple of lessons ago, the preserving and preservation
of the saints is in God's hand. It's not in our hand. And it's
not up to debate. He says, I will lose none. So
it's not a, it's a permanent, position in Christ as we've seen. So, and we're gonna look at verse
three. It says, 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's quite a bit in this verse. It says quite a bit. And we're
gonna look at a few of the points in this verse. It says here in verse three,
John prays or implores for grace, mercy, and peace for his elect
lady, for this elect lady. Those three gifts are conditions
that apply to only the redeemed ones and can only be claimed
by his own. that those are called children,
sons and daughters by God as related by John in the previous
book. We saw that God calls his people
sons of God. We will spend a little time on
these blessings of God to the elect. Now, This is given to the elect lady
and by relationship, all elect of God's, but grace and mercy,
grace and mercy are shown to different degrees to all mankind. It's God's mercy that the rain
falls. It's God's mercy that he, gives those kind things and gracious
things just to mankind. The grace and peace and mercy
spoken up here is on a different level. It's on a different level
altogether. It's not given to the common. If this is those things that
are in Christ, it says from the Lord Jesus Christ, from the Father,
God the Father, Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father in truth
and love. And those are some qualifiers
there that isn't just the same grace or peace that mankind may
be in, and is at various times. And those common things, this
is speaking of in and out. the Lord himself, the position
that he has placed his people in, and those things that he
provides to them. We'll consider from whom these
blessings are given. It's asked from, and given and
bestowed, he asked from God the Father, and from or in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and additionally, from the Son of the Father, and
that in truth and love. several things, he doesn't just
say these blessings from God, it's God the Father, and then
it says our Lord Jesus Christ, and then it specifies, it says
the Son of the Father in truth and love, and there's a lot of
ground to cover, and we will probably not cover but just a few points this morning.
Let's look at some of the scriptures that speak of grace to believers. Grace as given to believers that
have by God, by His grace, been given the gift of faith and the
new birth and not separated from mercy and peace. It's all, it's
part and parcel of it. Turn to Psalm 103 with just a
thought here. Psalm 103. And the book of Psalms recounts
a lot of God's goodness and mercy and grace to his people. And
we're just gonna look at this spot this morning in the Psalm,
Psalm 103. Psalm 103, and I have to read
the, starting with verse one, and
we're going to read down a bit. It says, Bless the Lord, O my
soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth
thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness,
and tender mercies, who satisfies thy mouth with good things, so
that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord executeth
righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He hath
made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of
Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. And verse nine, he
will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us. Like as a father pitieth, pitieth
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth
our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. And in this psalm,
he recounts the grace and mercy to God's
people that are given to his people. These benefits that are
given only to God's people. God, a lot of people have good
health, have wealth, have security and peace about them and those
type of things, but not in the manner that we're considering
here that God provides and gives to his people. Outward blessings,
a lot of people have outward blessings greater than God's
people do. That's not what's talked about here. And it gets
down, he executed righteousness and judgment for all that are
oppressed, and that's not... People think that in bad times
you go to the psalm because somebody's treating me ill or whatever.
That's not primarily the bad times or the oppression that
it's talking about. It's oppression of sin by nature
that we are under and that he is the only one that can deliver
and can work with that. It says, the Lord is merciful
and gracious. Verse eight, slow to anger and
plenteous in mercy. And like we said, in the common
way, God is merciful to men, to mankind and to men. He is
merciful. It says, gracious, slow to anger.
And that's well and true to mankind as a whole. But to God's people,
the merciful and graciousness, slow to anger and plenteous in
mercy, only applies because of what the Lord has done for his
people, for that redemption that he's paid the price to bring
about and to cause to be there. That's the only standing we have.
And it says, he's not rewarded us after our sins, nor according
to our iniquities. And it says, as the heaven is
high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that
fear him. and our transgressions as far
as the East from the West. And so these are things that
only God's people can claim and that are so. He does not forget and forgive
sin. Someday it will be, it says,
he's not slack as some men concern slackness concerning his promises.
Well, sin will be paid for. It will be the justice will prevail
either individually as facing God Himself or in the Son that
has taken care of that and has placed us in Him. If that's the
case, then these other things, we can claim that. We can claim
the mercy and the graciousness of God, revealing Himself to
His people. And in that way, the spiritual
blessings are the great blessings, the spiritual life that He only
dispenses and gives to His people. That is the ultimate things in
life. That is the true life in him.
And the other is, all the other is outward. And we can be the
poorest or sickest of people in the flesh and be the happiest,
or the other way around. People can be the richest of
people and not have anything at all if they don't have that, awakening that only God can give
and to bring. This psalm recounts not only
the grace and mercy and the blessing of redeeming his own, but the
continual abundant grace and mercy to us all, all our life,
as also the ongoing deliverance from the nature we have in this
flesh Each of these verses brings another area that we depend upon
his continual care and remembrances of us. That's an ongoing thing,
the blessings of God to his people. And again, there in 2 John, when
he says, mercy and grace and peace to you through God and
through the Lord and the Son of the Father. Those are ongoing
things. He's not speaking primarily to
the grace that saved us in that point, but ongoing grace that
we have continually and depend upon all of our life. And we're
gonna look at a few places that, In Exodus, one more spot in Old
Testament. Turn to the book of Exodus, chapter
34. There's a thought there that
ties along here with what we're reading. Moses had been up on the mount
and he came down and they were not doing what he expected when
he came back. They were, they had, They were
not doing what they should be doing. Moses, in his seeing that,
the tables got broken. He had to go back up and get
some more. So he goes back up. Lord gives him the directions.
And in chapter 34, verse one says, And the Lord said unto
Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and
I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first
tables, which thou breakest. And be ready in the morning,
and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present thyself
there to me in the top of the mount. And no man shall come
up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the
mount, neither let the flocks nor the herds feed before that
mount. And he had two tables of stone,
like, verse four, like unto the first. And Moses rose up early
in the morning and went up unto Mount Sinai, as the Lord had
commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.
And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there
and proclaimed the name of the Lord. Verse six, and the Lord
passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful
and gracious, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the
guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation.
But primarily here in verse six and seven, saying who the Lord
he proclaims he is, it says, merciful, gracious, and long-suffering,
and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, that will by no means
clear the guilty. And here, referring to the only
way that this can be so is that there, was one that went between them
and God, the go-between. And we know that the pictures
that they had of the sacrifices as they go on in the Old Testament
there were just a showing of the need of that. How that God
can be just and the justifier was that that sin was taken care
of. And it was taken care of in eternity
past. In time, the Lord came and indeed
bore that sin on the cross by his own blood, redeeming his
people. But it was taken care of. When
this was spoken of, this wasn't just saying, I'm going to be
merciful because you guys are not what you should be. The only
reason that God was merciful to his own was because of whose
righteousness that they had on. Now these people, there was not
very many of them as we'll see down the road as they leave the
promised land. Not many of them left the promised
land. And this is speaking in, I think,
both in somewhat in the physical sense that he didn't just wipe
them out when that took place, you know, and that he's merciful
to men in sin, but he's merciful especially and gracious to his
people because of the relationship that we have with the son. We
are, as it says, heirs of Christ, joint heirs with him, which is,
something to contemplate that, and as the Lord brought out,
as John brought out in 1 John quite a bit, that the Lord calls
us sons and daughters of his, calls us his children, and that's
the group that indeed that that truly keeps mercy and forgives
iniquity for, that speaking of here, that grace that declares
his mercy to his people, both in grace to call the elect to
himself and always in this life in him, in the Lord Jesus Christ.
First of all, the mercy of not giving to us what we deserve
and the grace of having one take that, take care of that sin for
his people and be the one that stands in our stead. In the book of Hebrews, and I'll leave you to spend more time in the book of
the Psalms of those many Psalms that recount His mercy and goodness
to His people over all time. In the book of Hebrews chapter
4, and once again the book of Hebrews,
is such an eye opener to God's people of what the Old Testament
was speaking about with the priesthood and the sacrifices and all those
things, the ordinances of who it was really speaking about.
And it clarifies so many things about that, of who the Lord,
those pictures of him and what he in reality is to his people. And so in Hebrews chapter four, speaking to us, it says, and
it had been speaking about the high priest before this, but
Hebrews four, starting with verse 14, it says, saying then that
we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens Jesus,
the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not
an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of
our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like we are, yet
without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. And it says we have a great high
priest, Jesus, the Son of God. And remember there in 2 John,
in verse three, he asks and he pleads the grace of God to his
people in the name of the Father and of our Lord Jesus Christ
and Jesus, the Son of God. And here, again, has that same
thought there, ties that into it. and by the spirit that these
things are worked about and come about, that because of whom we
have to deal, as brought up here, we can come boldly or confidently
to the throne of grace and mercy. In speaking to God's people there
in 2 John, to those that are elect in him, We know whom we
have believed and are persuaded he's able to keep those things
that we've committed to him against that day, as it says. And here
we can come confidently, it says boldly, but boldly in the sense
that we have a great confidence in that great high priest of
ours and what he has done and how we stand. It's not boldness
to come before God demanding anything or claiming anything
in our own right, but only as it is in Him. And turn the page
a little bit to Hebrews chapter six. Hebrews chapter six. Now it speaks above here about
Abraham and the promise that God gave to Abraham and that
he swore by himself. But I'd like to skip down here
just a little bit through here. Starting with the verse 17 of
Hebrews chapter six, it says, wherein God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath. That by two immutable things
in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation who have fled for refuge to laid hold upon the
hope set before us. Which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enter into that within
the veil. Whether the forerunner is for
us entered, even Jesus, made in high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. And here, speaking again, because
of that, where we stand, and it says here, we might have a
strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the
hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul.
It says, steadfast and sure, in verse 20, whether the forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus, made in high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. And because of what the Lord
has done for his people, what he has done, we can claim those
things. And as it says here, we have
strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the
hope set before us. We can claim those things, and
we're gonna look a little bit more about the grace that is
an ongoing thing in God's people's lives, the grace of God in our
lives, that we can, because of who that high priest is, and
as it relates in Hebrews to us, That is a confidence we have.
And we have a great confidence and boldness in the fact that
we know who he is and what he has done for his people. In the
book of Ephesians, turn to Ephesians chapter three. Ephesians chapter
three. The book of Ephesians speaks
to a lot of things and it speaks greatly to the grace of God in
redeeming his people and the faith that he gives his people
by his grace that he has done these things. And I'd like to
start at verse 12 of chapter three of Ephesians. It says, in whom speaking of
the Lord, Jesus Christ, in whom we have boldness and access with
confidence by him, by the faith of him. Wherefore, I desire that
you faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
For this cause, I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to
be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man.
that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you be
rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height,
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that
you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him,
that is able to do exceedingly abundant above all that we ask
or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him
be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world
without end. Amen. And here in these, some
of the things that speak to the grace of God working in his people,
that it says that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith,
that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend
what is the, with all saints, what is the breadth, length,
depth, and height, to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. And by God's grace that we know
him, it's by God's grace that it says may dwell in your hearts
by faith, being rooted and grounded in love. Those are not things
that are worked up in and of ourself. Those are things that
are given to us by God's grace. His grace and mercy is what keeps
us, which will always keep us in Him and in Christ. And then, in the Book of John, the Gospel
of John, a couple places, but in Chapter 1, we're going to be back at a different
spot there, but in Chapter 1 of John, Speaking of, it starts out the
chapter, speaking of who the Lord himself is, the word, all
things were created by him, the light that shineth in the darkness,
those things that describe who he is. And then starting with
verse 12 of John chapter one, It says, but as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. John bear witness of him, John
bear witness of him and cried saying, this was he of whom I
speak. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me for he was before me. And of his fullness have we all
received and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God
at any time. The only begotten son, which
is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. And this
is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites
for Jerusalem to ask him, who art thou? And he confessed and
denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. In verse 21, and they asked him,
what then, art thou Elias? And he said, I am not. Art thou
that prophet? And he answered, no, I am not. But up here in this passage,
it says, Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of his fullness
have we all received grace for grace. In verse 17, for the law
was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
And as we've mentioned before, the law, those tables that Moses
went up to get twice and came down with, that was not good
news. That was not a good news of the
gospel when he brought those down. That was forever an indictment
against what man is, what man is like. These are 10 impossible
tasks of the many impossible tasks that man can't abide by
them. We have no affinity for those
and we cannot live up to that and it's the law brought death
and it says the law but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
In him is the grace and mercy of God shown to his people. And
in him, the law only brought death. It can only point out the failings
and the fallen nature of man. And only through Jesus Christ,
as it says, grace and truth came by him. In Romans, the book of
Romans for a minute. Book of Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight, starting
at verse 19, it says, Verse 18 says, I reckon that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest
expectation of the creature waited for the manifestation of the
sons of God. For the creature was made subject
to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected
the same in hope. Because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. And here it says, the creature
was made subject to vanity not willing, but by reason of him
that subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God." And this is a statement of God
in redemption of his people that delivered his people from the
bondage, from the pit where they were dug, and from the bondage
of sin and nature of sin that we have with us, it says, into
the glorious liberty of the children of God. And that is obviously,
and of course, in only in him. And then a couple of other places
that it mentions, you know, the grace of God to his people.
In Romans chapter one, turn back to chapter one, it says, Romans chapter one, verse seven,
It says, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be
saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. And this verse is in this benediction
or thoughts to God's people in much of the scripture is that
it says that exercise and outworking of the grace of those spiritual
attributes given us in Christ, that God would and does cause
those things to grow and mature in us. There are those passages
there that speaks of that, of his grace and peace, that those
things, the graces that are given to us, they mature with time. Another explanation or other
thoughts that go with this, in the book of 2 Peter. Turn to the book of 2 Peter. And this speaks a little more
to particulars, I guess, or brings down what's meant and what's
spoken of the grace and peace unto his people. In 2 Peter 1,
first three verses, It says, Simon Peter, as servant
and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like
precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and
our Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied
unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. according as his divine power
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness
through the knowledge of him that hath called us unto glory
and virtue. And it says here, grace and peace
multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus
Christ our Lord. That's how people talk about
growing in grace and the knowledge, and it comes, through the Word
by the Spirit to us, teaches us of Him. It isn't something
that we just come to us own. It isn't a work that God started
and now it just grows and we take care of it. It's of God
that the grace and mercy, it says, through the knowledge of
Him that hath called us to glory and virtue, And then in verse
four, down a couple of verses in verse four, it says, whereby
are given unto us great and precious promises. that by these you might
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust. And besides this, giving
all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge,
and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and
to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness,
and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you
and abound, they make that you should neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he
that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off,
and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore,
the rather, brother, give diligence to make your calling and election
sure. For if you do these things, you
shall never fail. For so an entrance shall be ministered
unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. It says in verse 12, wherefore
I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of
these things, though you know them and be established in the
present truth. But here, these things here,
it speaks about people called the fruit of the
spirit. They're giving all diligent and it said, add to your faith
virtue and virtue knowledge and down this list here, Try of your own accord. This makes keeping New Year's
resolutions look like an easy task. You cannot add virtue or
patience or godliness or temperance. These things are not something
that we strive for those things. But we cannot, it's part and
parcel with salvation itself. We cannot do this. This is a
continuing work that God does in his people. In that way, this
type of grace, speaking about his grace and mercy to us, is
ongoing. It's ongoing. And there's none
of these things where it says, this should be good in you, that
we can get there. It has to be given us, and in
him, All things that it says needed for life and godliness
are in Him. And that's the only source of
that that we have. And then one last thought in
2 John, and we're not going to finish all of verse 3 today. Just one more time, it says,
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. And all these things are given
to us of his hand. And we are thankful and God's
people only can realize that of themselves we have none of
these virtues. These are things that are given
to us and we look at them and say, boy, don't have much of
that. But thank God we stand in somebody who has all of that,
has all of that. And so we're gonna once again
stop for this session, this time, and we will pick up again with
a couple more thoughts from verse three next time. Thank you for
your attendance and your being here today, thank you.