Now if you would, let's turn
back to that passage of Scripture that Brother Joe just read, 2
John. One of the things that I can
tell you about the 2nd epistle of John is this, is that sometimes
great things come in small packages. Because you look at this and
there's only 13 verses in this short epistle. And then if you
look at 3 John, there's 14 verses in that one. So both of these
are short letters. We just finished studying 1 John. 1 John revealed the foundation
and set the boundaries of what we might call true Christian
fellowship. And incidentally, fellowship,
you know, we talk about having fellowship. Fellowship is not
something you have. In other words, you set aside
a time and say, we're going to have fellowship at this time.
Fellowship is a state. It's a standing before God in
the body of Christ. It's something you always have.
You never stop having it. Now, we socialize. And I do that,
too. I'm not getting on you for saying
that, because I say it, too. But just for understanding of
what John is speaking of here today, we need to understand
that. Well, the foundation and the
boundaries of true Christian fellowship, John has already
set them forth in 1 John. He laid the foundation work there. It's a fellowship of light. That
means truth, the light of Christ. Christ himself is the light.
And his truth, his gospel is the gospel light. It's the light
that shines in darkness. When the Bible says, let your
light so shine. that men may see your good works
and glorify your Father in heaven. You need to understand that the
light is not our good works. The light is not our character
and our conduct or what men see of us. The light is the glory
of God in Christ that shines upon those works to show that
they are the work and operation and grace of God. And people
have that confused, you know. But it's the light of truth.
The fellowship of light. Now, that's important for 2 John
and for 3 John. It's the light of righteousness.
It's the fellowship of righteousness, rather. Righteousness in Christ
being justified, accepted, declared right and not guilty before a
holy God in Christ to the point of looking to Him, believing
in Him, walking by faith in Him. And then it's the fellowship
of love. John made a very, very good case
for the issue of love. You cannot overstress or overemphasize
love as far as being a major evidence of the Christian life,
Christian living and fellowship. Christ told his disciples in
John 13, he said, by this shall all men know that you are my
disciples if you have love one to another. So that love which
binds us together, loyalty to our brethren, in the faith, in
the gospel. Now, 2 and 3 John show us the
practical application of what John taught in 1 John. 2 John shows us essentially who
not to have fellowship with. And therefore, even though it's
a small epistle, it really has some of the most profound And
harshest truth, if we put it that way, it's really not harsh,
it's just things that we have to do in the operation of our
daily lives as believers, that it takes some spiritual fortitude,
spiritual guts, we might say. It takes some courage and virtue
to stand in this way. And so that's what he's doing
in 2 John. He's telling us who not to have
fellowship with, who we do not have fellowship with. And 3 John
is the opposite. He shows us who we do have fellowship
with and how we're to treat them. And it's a very practical matter
of Christian hospitality. In other words, he's going to
be talking about who we are to receive as brethren, who we are
to recognize as brethren, who we are to promote and encourage
and support. in the way of preachers and teachers
and brethren and ministers, all of that. And that's the issue,
see. Now, I've entitled this message,
Love in the Truth, because that's what he's talking about. So let's
just go through this letter. I'll get as far as I can get
in the time allowed. But he just begins in the first
three verses, number one here, with a greeting. He greets. He
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." He's talking about a fellowship here of love,
a fellowship of truth. He identifies himself as the
elder here. John, the apostle, who was the
human instrument by which the Holy Spirit wrote this epistle,
it's said that John, when he wrote this epistle, was almost
90 years old. So in referring to himself as
an elder here, it's not only in office, but it's also in age,
90 years old. And he's writing here as he identifies
the elect lady and her children. What is the elect lady? Who is
this elect lady? Well, we don't know. There's
nothing in this epistle or nothing in any other letter that would
give us any indication of what her name is or who she is, whether
it's an individual. Some scholars believe that it's
a code word for the church, elect lady, church being referred to
in the feminine because the church is the bride of Christ. But there's
no indication in the letter for us to take any position there.
So let's just assume he's writing to a believer, a sinner saved
by the grace of God, a lady. And that would be really appropriate
here for the topic. He doesn't identify her by name.
We don't know why. Maybe he didn't want to call
attention to her specifically. But he does say this. He says,
the elect lady. Now, what does elect mean? It
means one chosen by God. Now, a lot of people, when they
see that word elect, or they see the word election, they'll
run from it. They'll avoid it. Many people
say, well, that's just got to be talking about the Jews, because
they were God's chosen people for a time under that dispensation
of the old covenant. But the doctrine of election
is a biblical gospel doctrine. It's a glorious doctrine. It's
a comforting doctrine. First of all, it places salvation
back to the source, and that's a good thing. Who is the source
of salvation? God is. God in Christ is the
source and originator of salvation. It's not me, it's not you, it's
not any man. If it were, there'd be no salvation.
Do you understand that? If it weren't for God's electing
grace, election of grace, there would be no salvation of any
of us, of any person. I want you to turn to the book
of Ephesians chapter 1 with me. Listen to how the Apostle Paul,
as he's inspired by the Spirit, describes the great salvation
that God has blessed His people with. And in this first chapter,
he speaks of the work of the Father, the work of the Son,
and the work of the Holy Spirit. All three persons of the Godhead
involved in the salvation of a sinner by His grace through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll just read a few verses.
I'm not going to read the whole chapter, but look at verse 3.
of Ephesians chapter 1. Paul writes, Grace be to you
and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Father is the source and originator. The Son is the one
who earned and bought and worked out that peace on the cross of
Calvary by his blood shedding, his death, and his establishment
of righteousness. And then he says, blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Now, this is just one sentence here as we go through. I know
it's divided into verses now, but listen to what he says. In
heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in Him,
when? Before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. Have Him predestinated. That's
another word that people are scared of. I don't know why.
God is God. Do you know that? He is God now. In other words, what I'm telling
you about God is, now, nothing takes God by surprise. You know,
God has never learned anything. Now, you learn. Hopefully you
do. I learn. I hope I do. But God has never learned anything.
He never changes. He doesn't need to learn anything.
The Bible describes God as being all-knowing, omniscient. Not just because He looks down
through a telescope of time and then finds out what's going to
happen. If that's the case, then He's not God. Whoever made the
thing happens God. You see what I'm saying? You
say, well, I can't grasp on to concepts like that. Well, that's
because you're human. And that's because I'm human.
And just because we can't grasp on to a concept concerning God,
doesn't mean that God is no longer God. And it doesn't mean that
we're to deny the truth of it. Somebody says, well, if I can't
understand it, I'm going to deny it. Well, you're going to deny
just about everything about God then. Somebody says, why? I just don't understand that.
Well, add that to your list. Because I've got a long list
of those things. But just because I don't grasp it in this little
puny, finite mind doesn't mean it's not true. You say, well,
I can't reconcile how God can be sovereign and man responsible.
You don't have to. All you have to know is God is
sovereign and man is responsible. Because this book teaches those
two things. Ain't that right? Am I right? You say, well, I
can't figure all that out. Well, that's because you're not
God. You see, only God can figure all that out. But the Bible says
He determined all things. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. It's not an afterthought. Satan didn't sneak up on God
and take Him by surprise in heaven when He fell, or in the garden.
It was planned and purposed for the glory of God's grace, and
yet God is not the author of sin and evil. Now, you go home
and figure that one out, and when you've got it figured out,
come back and tell me. It just won't work. You understand what
I'm saying. God is high above us. He's high
above us. And don't be alarmed. And certainly
don't deny the Scripture because you can't figure it all out.
If we could, we'd be God. And we're not. So he says in
verse 5, "...having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will."
Why did God do it this way? Because He willed it so. And
he says, verse 6, "...to the praise of the glory of His grace."
wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace." And we'll stop there in Ephesians
1. But isn't that something, you see? What election does God's
electing grace? It shows this, and this is important.
Well, here, turn to Romans chapter 9. Now, don't sit there and think
that I'm never going to get through 2 John. Because I assure you I will if
the Lord allows it. But listen to this now. This
is important. God's electing grace, His sovereign
electing grace shows that no part of salvation is conditioned
on the sinner. We call it unconditional election
sometimes. And that's so. But what that
does is that shows that there are sinners who are going to
be saved. If salvation were conditioned
on you or on me, then we would never be saved. And if you think
you would, then it's because you think you're better than
other sinners. I'm just putting it to you as bluntly as I can.
I mean, why do you say, well, I believe? Well, somebody else
didn't. Why did you believe and why didn't they believe? Are
you better than them? Are you less obstinate, less
of a rebel than them? Is that why God saves sinners?
Not according to this book now. You say, well, I don't believe
that. Well, you just don't believe the book then. But this is what election
does. It shows us that God saves sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. I don't earn it. I don't
deserve it. It's not conditioned on me. It's
conditioned on Christ and Him alone. Well, look at it in Romans
chapter 9. This is a portion that a lot
of people have problems with. Look at verse 9. Now, what he's
talking about here in Romans 9 is the fact that even though
the nation Israel were called the elect of God, God's chosen
people, most of the nation, the majority of the nation, rejected
God's way of salvation in Christ. They rejected Christ. And so
what Paul is teaching here is this. Well, that doesn't mean
that God's elect are not going to be saved. It doesn't mean
that at all. Because you see, there is the
nation, Israel, under the old covenant, but God has a people
out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation whom he chose
before the foundation of the world in Christ. And he says
in verse 9, for this is the word of promise, and he goes back
to Jacob and Esau. Now listen to this, he says,
this is the word of promise, at this time will I come and Sarah
shall have a son, and that's Abraham's Sarah, and not only
this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even by her
father Isaac, for the children, now he's talking about Jacob
and Esau, the children of Isaac and Rebekah. And he says, for
the children, being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil. Now that means it's not, had nothing to do with what
they would do or did do. He says, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand not of works, but of him
that called. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. And you say, well, I don't understand
how God could hate Esau. Well, I understand that. What
I don't understand is how God could love Jacob. Or love any of us. But he does. So he says in verse 15, now I
don't know what's shooting through your mind right now. But it means,
well, that just doesn't sound right. I believe most of you
all here understand this and know this as far as the Scripture
reveals it. But listen to what Paul does here in verse 14. He
says, what shall we say then? How are we going to respond to
this? Is there unrighteousness with God? Is God unjust in this? And Paul writes, God forbid. God is never unjust. I'll tell
you something about God that the Scripture teaches. Whatever
God does is right. Whatever God does is just. He's
never unfair. He's never unjust. And he goes
on, he says, for he saith to Moses, verse 15, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth. It's not of the free will of man. It's not of him
that runneth. That means man's works. It's
not of man's works, but of God that showeth mercy. Now, back
in 2 John, He's referring to this chosen lady. Well, how does
he know this lady is chosen? How do you know election? How
do you know one is elect? Well, he says it here. He says,
the elder unto the elect lady and her children whom I love
in the truth. Now, that's the issue. When Paul
wrote to the church at Thessalonica in chapter 1 and verse 2 through
5, he said, I know your election of God. I know that God chose you." Well,
how did he know that? He said, because our gospel came
to you, not just in word, but in power. You believed it. You believed it. And listen,
that's the first evidence of being one of God's chosen. Do
you believe the gospel? Do you rest in Christ? He said
in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, when he was talking about the
beloved of God, he said, Beloved, we're bound, beloved, to give
thanks unto God, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit. That is, you were
set apart by the Spirit and belief of the truth. You were born again
by the Spirit, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the praise
of the glory of his grace. You believe the gospel. Do you
know Christ? Do you believe in him? Have you
run to him? Is all your hope in him and him
alone? That's what this elect lady and
her children are evidencing here to John. Our election is known
by our calling. Peter said in 2 Peter 1 and verse
10, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. Listen, God never gave any sinner
reason to sit around and wonder, well, am I elect or not? No. What are you to do? You're
to run to Christ. You're to believe in Him. You're
to come like a sinner begging for mercy. That's your warrant. That's your commandment. That's
your responsibility. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. The preaching of election doesn't
shut any sinner out of the kingdom. You shut yourself out by unbelief.
Now, you can't figure all that out, and I can't either. That's
not the issue. The issue is, if somebody asked me one time,
I said this on TV one time, said, well, where does that leave me?
I said, it leaves you exactly where you need to be, a sinner
in need of mercy. Now, run to Christ. Plead His
blood and His righteousness. That's where we all need to be.
Right there at God's mercy. Isn't that right? I don't need
to be left to my will. I need to be left at the foot
of the cross. Begging for mercy. And that's
the issue. Now, he says here whom I love
in the truth. Here's the key to 2 John. Love
that is founded upon and bound by the truth of God's grace in
Christ. The gospel of Christ. That's
the truth he's talking about. Christ and him crucified. The
gospel of his glorious person. Who is he? He's God and man in
one person. The gospel of the cross. His
finished work. to die for his sheep on Calvary
and pay their sin debt to God's justice and establish righteousness
for them. The gospel of his death, burial,
and resurrection. He is alive. He arose again from
the grave. He's seated at the right hand
of the Father, ever living to make intercession for us. And
he's coming again to gather his people unto himself and judge
this world. What John is saying here is true
godly love, biblical love, and divine love is in the truth. It's more than sentiment. It's
more than a gentle and kind demeanor. Now, there's nothing wrong with
a gentle and kind demeanor. We all should be that way. Kindness,
gentleness is important. It's more than friendliness.
It's more than just jumping over a pew to get somebody to introduce
yourself. That's not love in Scripture.
Now, there's nothing wrong with being friendly now. Don't get
me wrong. We ought to be friendly. We ought
to be kind. We ought to be gentle. We ought to be receptive people
in that sense. We want people to come and hear
the gospel. But this love is guided, and it's founded upon,
and it's bounded by the truth. This love here. So, therefore,
2 John, this short epistle, stands in direct opposition to the modern-day
ecumenical movement that teaches love and unity at the expense
of truth. at the expense of right biblical
doctrine, at the expense of the doctrine of Christ. That says
it doesn't matter what you believe. Come on in. We're together, brother,
sister. No, 2 John, God's Word, will
not allow that. We're guided in the exercise
of divine love, Christian love. By the truth that God sets forth
concerning Himself, He is a holy and just and righteous and sovereign
God. By the truth concerning ourselves,
we are the wretched, the rotten, the depraved, sinful, meaty sinners,
impotent. By the truth of His grace in
Christ, God sent forth His Son into the world to save His people
from their sins. And he got the job done. He didn't
come and try to save anybody. He shall save his people from
their sins, and he did. He did. The true church is the
church of the living God, as it is the pillar and ground of
truth. The truth. And where the truth
is denied, ignored, confused, or compromised, there, my friend,
is a false church. Now, that's what this book teaches.
Love must stand the test of truth. Truth determines the bounds of
love and unity. Therefore, truth must exist in
the body of Christ before love can unite us and keep us together. Truth generates love, and Christian
love loves the truth. Back over in 1 John 4 and verse
10, here's how he described love. Here's how he defined love. Herein
is love. Not that we love God. In other
words, the fact that we love God is not the condition we had
to meet to get Him to love us. His love for us is not based
on our love for Him. So herein is love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us and did what? He sent His Son
to be the propitiation for our sins. Now that word propitiation,
what does it mean? It is a sin-bearing, sin-offering
sacrifice that died in order to satisfy God's justice. That's
what propitiation means. And so that love that binds Christians
together is finally wound up, bound up, and connected to the
finished work of Christ on the cross. So what did he accomplish
on the cross? Now, our answer to that question
will show and evidence whether or not we have this love. You
say, well, he came to try to save everybody and he died for
everybody, even those in hell. Well, that's not the kind of
love that the scripture sets forth. He says in John 13 and
verse 1 that he loved his own unto the end, to the finishing
of the work. And it says in Romans chapter
8 when it says, nothing shall separate us from the love of
God. Nothing can separate God's love
from his people. And so we love God because he
first loved us, John says. When we talk about love, We understand
that there's no grace, there's no mercy, there's no compassion
without the love of God. And he says here, look at verse
1, he says, and not only I, but also they that have known the
truth. In other words, it's not just me, John says, it's everybody. This is common to every Christian.
You're not just in fellowship with one person because you like
the same ball team. That has nothing to do with it.
You're in fellowship with every believer, every sinner saved
by the grace of God. Somebody says, well, I may not
like this fellow or that fellow. Let me tell you something. Thank
God that you didn't choose, but that God did. Thank God I didn't
choose, but God did. And so look at verse 2. He says,
for the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us and shall be with us forever.
In other words, this is all because of the truth. Truth here refers
to Christ himself. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And it
refers to his word, the gospel, that dwells and abides within
us by the Holy Spirit and shall be with us forever. This is the
truth, the word of God, that's implanted in the hearts of God's
people, and it will never leave. This is the unction. You remember
he mentioned that? He talked about those who claimed
to believe the truth and then left it. And he said, they really
never were with us. Had they been of us, they would
have no doubt have stayed with us. But he said, but you have
an unction from the Holy One. You have the power of God unto
salvation implanted in your heart. You've been born again by the
Spirit. And you can trace that back to the power and grace of
God in Christ. And it's for the truth's sake.
This speaks of our new birth by the power of the Spirit to
make the gospel of Christ the power of God unto salvation unto
us. Look at verse 3. He 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.
Listen, there's no grace without the truth. There's no grace without
truth and love. There's no mercy without truth
and love. There's no peace without truth
and love. Grace is God sending his Son into the world to do
for me what I cannot do for myself. Grace is God giving me what I
don't deserve. Mercy is God not giving me what
I do deserve. It's all wrapped up in Christ
and his love for his people from the Father. This mercy and peace
come together. Peace is what Christ established
on the cross. It's the cross of peace. It's
the gospel of peace. He established peace between
God and sinners. He removed the grounds of all
that would alienate sinners from God. And he did it by his death
on the cross. And it's all from the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of the Father. And it's all done in truth and
in love. Truth and love. Truth and love. He keeps on with
that theme. Verse 4, he begins talking about walking in truth
and love. This is the second part. He says, I rejoice greatly
that I found of thy children walking in truth as we have received
a commandment from the Father. The sense of the original language
here is this, that some of her children were walking in the
truth and some of them weren't. And they were walking in the
truth. Walking there is a continual walking as a habit of one's life. Not just one time, not one day
a week, two days a week, but it's a lifetime. It's evidence
of the new birth. It's an evidence of faith. It's
an evidence of truth and love in the heart for Christ and his
people and his truth. And he says here, as we have
received a commandment from the Father. What commandment? To
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and love the brethren. That's
what he's talking about. Look at verse 5, he says, 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, we stick to one another, we're loyal to
one another, we're compassionate and loving to one another, we're
in fellowship with one another. And verse 6, and this is love,
that we walk after his commandments. Again, what are his commandments?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, follow him, rest in him, and
love the brethren. His commandments here are not
the works of a legalist aimed at trying to be saved. They're
not the works of a self-righteous Pharisee aimed at trying to recommend
himself unto God as if his works could make him holy or righteous.
These are the commandments of the gospel, the commandments
of grace, the commandments of love that constrain us by the
love of Christ and not by law. Christ, as I've said so many
times in our study of 1 John, Christ never, never commanded
any sinner to strive to keep the law in order to be saved. He forbid that. He called that
evil. He always, always preached grace,
for he is the embodiment of grace. So in this is love, he says in
verse 6, that we walk after his commandments. In other words,
it's more than just saying you love God. Or you love Christ
and love his people. It's evidenced by walking, by
obedience. And he says, this is the commandment,
that as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk
in it. Faith, love, and obedience go
together. You see, Christ's blood and righteousness
alone are the ground and cause of salvation. of our justification
before God, and faith, love, and obedience are the fruits
and evidence of grace, of salvation. Now, think about this. This goes
back to 1 John 3. The issue of Cain and Abel, I
believe, comes in as a great example here. We've used that
quite a bit from 1 John 3. Look at verse 10. He says, in this the children
of God are manifest, or made known, evidenced, and the children
of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness
is not of God. What is it to do not righteousness?
It means unbelief. It means not walking after his
commandments, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and love the
brethren. And he says that, neither he that loveth not his brother.
Verse 11, for this is the message that you heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another. That's what John's talking about
in 2 John. And he goes to Cain and Abel,
verse 12, "...not like Cain, not as Cain, who was of that
wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Why
did Cain slay Abel? Because his own works were evil,
and his brother's righteous." Cain and Abel, two physical brothers,
could not have fellowship because one was of the lie and the other
was of the truth. Abel, when he came to worship
God, when he came to seek acceptance from God, what did Abel bring?
He brought the blood of the Lamb, typifying, picturing, prophesying
of the blood of Christ, showing that his faith was not in himself
or in his works, but his faith was totally wrapped up in the
person and work of the Messiah who was promised and who would
come. And God declared him righteous on the basis, not of his works,
but on the basis of the work that Christ would perform on
Calvary. In other words, Abel believed
the same gospel that we believe. Abel was saved by the same grace
by which we are saved. Abel was justified before God
based on the same righteousness that we're justified before God,
the righteousness of Christ imputed or accounted or charged to him.
Abel's sins were put away at the cross, just like yours was,
if you're in Christ. Abel repented of dead works,
his own efforts to try to save himself, just as we have. In
other words, we are in fellowship with Abel, who's gone on to be
with the Lord. But now Cain denied all of that.
Cain, in his hard work, in his sincerity, came to God presenting
the best that he could offer, what he'd worked for in the telling
of the ground. God would not accept that. God
had taught Cain. He preached to Cain through Adam,
and probably through Abel, that without the shedding of blood,
there is no forgiveness of sin. He told him, Cain. You cannot
be forgiven. You cannot be pardoned. You cannot
be justified unless blood is shed to satisfy the justice of
God. And the only blood that can be
shed to satisfy the justice of God is the blood of the woman's
seed. Genesis 3 15. The blood of the
Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Cain rejected, revealing that
he had no fellowship with Abel. And of course, we know what happened.
Cain killed Abel. Obviously, no fellowship. But
this is it. This is how we as believers should
walk. Well, look at verse 7. Now, here's the third section.
Here's a warning against false teachers. Why is this important?
Love in the truth. And the reason he's saying is
this. There are those who come to you with what we might look
upon and label as love Seeking your support. Seeking your fellowship. Seeking your blessings. Seeking
your prayers. But they don't believe the truth. And their love is not Christian
love. And you're not to give them hospitality. Look at verse
7. He says, for many deceivers are entered into the world who
confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. What that's
saying is that Jesus Christ in the flesh has come. The Messiah
has come and done his work. He's finished it. This is our
salvation. And there are some who come to
you, they're deceivers, seeking your fellowship, seeking your
unity, seeking peace with you who do not believe the same truth
you believe. He says this is a deceiver and
an antichrist. In other words, those who do
not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan is called the deceiver
and the accuser of brethren. And because Satan disguises himself
as an angel of light, we have to be on guard against error
by having a solid knowledge and conviction of truth as it lies
in the person and work of Christ. These deceivers are pretenders.
Christ warned of them in Matthew chapter 7. He said, beware of
wolves in sheep's clothing. They're disguised. Paul warned
of them against them in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 when he talked about
false preachers who came along and confused the simplicity of
the truth of the gospel of Christ and Him crucified. And he said,
don't be amazed if they're disguised as angels of light. That's the
way Satan's ministers are. Satan himself disguised himself
as an angel of light. And they transformed, he said.
They can't stay. Sometimes they can say right
things, but they can't stay with the gospel of God's grace. So,
he said, many deceivers are gone into the world. Verse 8, look
at it. Look to yourselves that we lose not the things which
we have wrought. That word wrought should be gained.
He's not talking about something we've worked for. He's talking
about something we've obtained, but that we receive a full reward.
He's not speaking of rewards in heaven based on our good works
there. The Bible doesn't teach that.
In fact, if you look at it, the word rewards Plural is never
even used in the context of heaven in the Bible. It's always reward
singular because it's the reward of grace which believers receive
by virtue of the work of Christ and not their own. And he says it's the reward of
grace which will be fully completed and realized in our final glory,
all based upon the blood and righteousness of Christ. In other
words, if we compromise the truth, in the name of love and peace
and unity. If we deny the truth in the name
of love and peace and unity, what we do is merely evidence
that we're not saved and we will not be glorified with Christ
in heaven. We'll be like those who fell away and revealed they
never knew the truth. Now, we do work, we do obey,
but not for salvation or earned reward. We work to be used of
God for his glory and the salvation of sinners and the edification
of his people. But if we forsake this truth
in the name of love and peace and unity, then all is lost in
our case. All we reveal is that we never
knew Christ. So he says, look to yourselves,
verse 8, be on guard. To depart from truth is to depart
from Christ. To depart from Christ is to forsake
him and his sacrifice, his blood, his righteousness. If we're not
in Him, we have no hope of eternal reward and eternal life and grace
and glory. Look at verse 9. He says, Whosoever
transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath
not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. Let me make a suggestion
to you this morning. Get into this book. And make
sure you know what he's talking about in that verse. The doctrine
of Christ. Make sure you understand from
this book what he's talking about. What's he talking about? He's
talking about the doctrine, the truth of the person of Christ. His person. Who He is. He is
God and man in one person. The union of the two natures,
divine and human, in one person. That's who Christ is. He is God.
He is man. Very God of very God, very man
of very man, without sin. It's the doctrine of his offices.
He's the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
There is no other mediator. If you add any other mediator
to him, you deny him. That's right. He's the surety
of his people. That means he paid the debt in
full. He was our surety. He's our redeemer. He's our prophet. He's our preached. He's our King. He's all of those
things. His redemptive work on the cross,
His obedience under the law, His perfect obedience, His suffering
unto death, not for His own sins, but for ours. He was bruised
for our iniquity, the Scripture says. The chastisement of our
peace was upon Him. In other words, the punishment
that we deserved in order that God might be satisfied was not
upon us, it was upon Him. He died for the sins of His sheep. And He satisfied the justice
of God and brought forth everlasting righteousness. It's the doctrine
of His resurrection. He arose from the dead. We don't
serve a dead martyr. We're not making trips to the
so-called Holy Land trying to find His tomb. He's not there. You know what the angel said?
He's not here. Why are you here? He's not here. I wish he was
there today to say that. Why are you here? He's not here. He's risen. What does that mean? That means God's satisfied. Righteousness
is established. Now, look to Him. Rest in Him. And He's coming again to judge
and to reign and to gather His people. Now, you can argue about
what all that means as far as when He's coming, how He's coming,
where He's going to be and all that. That's not the issue. The
issue is He's coming. He's coming. That's the doctrine
of Christ. Now, he says, whosoever transgresseth,
that word transgresseth means goes too far. They go beyond. They go beyond the doctrine of
Christ, the doctrine of His person, the doctrine of His offices,
the doctrine of His redemptive work, the doctrine of His resurrection,
the doctrine of His second coming. They go beyond it. They go beyond
the Word of God. They got opinions and ideas and
philosophies. They go too far. Farther than
Christ. My friend, let me tell you something.
For your complete salvation, I'm telling you, you don't need
to go any farther than Christ and Him crucified. You don't
need any more wisdom than He is, any more righteousness than
He is, any more holiness than He is, and any more redemption
than He is. All you need for salvation is
Christ and Him alone. and him crucified. You don't
need anything else. And anybody tells you you need
something else, they're transgressing, they're going too far. And abiding
not, they're not continuing in the doctrine of Christ, and they
have not God. That's what he's saying. They're
not in fellowship with God. God is not their Father. God
is not their Redeemer. But he goes on, he says, he that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. If you want to be in fellowship
with the Father and the Son, look to Christ. Continue in that
Word and that doctrine that identifies and distinguishes Him from all
idols. That's how you know you're in
fellowship with the Father and the Son. That's how you know
God is your Father, your Redeemer, the One who justifies you in
Christ. Now, I'll continue with that
next week, but I hope that's been helpful to you. We're going
to sing as a closing hymn, hymn number 483, Oh How I Love Jesus.
483.