John uses this little word, truth. You noticed here, maybe as I
read it, you might have noticed it in these verses. It seems like that's one of John's
favorite words, is truth. Truth. In the Gospel of John,
in this, in the Gospel of John and 1 John, this little epistles
of 2 John and 3 John, he uses that word 45 times. 45 times he uses that word. If you
like to compare that with Mark, in the whole book of Mark, he
uses truth three times. And Luke uses it three times
and five times all through the book of Acts. So you can see
this was one of John's favorite words, truth, truth. And he says here in verse 1,
he addresses himself, and I like this, he addresses himself as
the elder. Some people might doubt that
John wrote this, but I suppose he did. I have no qualms about
that, and I certainly can't argue that he didn't. I imagine he
did. One thing you'll notice about John's writing, he never
refers to himself. who wrote the epistles. He tells
us who wrote the book of Revelations, that he was John. He addresses himself so often
in the gospel of John as that disciple whom the Lord loved. And that's John that leaned upon
the breast of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he addresses himself
here as an elder, a pastor, a bishop, an overseer. Peter addressed
himself as that way. Look over here in 1 Peter chapter
5. An elder. And Peter calls himself an elder. In 1 Peter chapter 5, look at
this in verse 1. These were the pastors. God had
called these men. They sometimes called them overseers.
Paul called for the elders of the church there at Appius and
preached to them and told them to feed the flock of God that
he had purchased. These were men that God had called
and he had gifted them to feed his church with wisdom and understanding. John said, I'm an elder, and
look here what Peter says in 1 Peter 5.1, the elders which
are among you I exhort, who am also an elder. And he says here,
one of the duties of an elder is a witness of the sufferings
of Christ, where you witnessed it with your eyes, or you witnessed
it with what's written down. And also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed. And here's what Mildred did.
Look at this. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking
the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not
for money, not just to make a living, not for filthy lucre, not for
gain, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage,
but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."
And John says here, I'm an elder. I'm an elder. He doesn't even
call himself an apostle. He could have because he wants.
But he said, if you're an elder, and you're an overseer of the
Gentile church, or you're an elder among the Jewish church,
he said, I'm just one of you. I'm just one of you. I'm an elder,
just like you are. Just like Peter said that he
was. This is strange because when James identified himself
in his epistle, he said, I'm a servant of God and of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now why is that so important?
Well, you remember these two guys, don't you? You remember
this whole bunch, John and James, especially John and James. Our
Lord was on his journey one day and he'd been preaching and he
saw his disciples fussing among themselves. Some kind of contention
was going on with him. He recognized it, but he didn't
say anything about it. He went on in the house and he
gathered them around and he said, why don't you fellas fussing
among yourselves? And you know something, they
were so embarrassed they wouldn't say anything. You know what they
were fussing about? Who was going to be the greatest.
They had turned their position into something political. James
said, I want to sit on his right hand. John said, I want to sit
on his left hand. They're stressing over who's going to be the greatest.
I just wonder if James and John had wrote their epistles at that
time, how they would have dressed themselves. They'd probably say
King James, but King James. King, not the servant, not the
servant. Lord John, not just an elder. Boy, I tell you what, the Lord
taught them men something. And they never exalted themselves.
The Lord exalted them. Inspired writers of these books
and yet address themselves just as an elder. I'm just an overseer. I'm a shepherd. I feed the flock. That's what I do. And I'm a servant
of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And here John says, and there's
such a blessing in this, That's such a blessing. He said unto
the elect lady and her children. Now I don't know who this lady
was. I don't think it was any church. I think it was a woman.
She was a lady and she had children. We don't know very much about
her. The last verse here says this woman had a sister. And
her sister had children. And John knew them. And that's
where he was writing from. And he said, your sister sends
greetings to you. Her sister's children sent. So we don't know who she was,
but he addressed her. And the way he addressed her
was such a blessing. There's three things here I noticed as
I was looking at this epistle. Three things was such a blessing
to her. And first of all, it's here the way he addresses her.
The elect lady. until the elect lady. We don't refer to one another
like that much, but you know they used to. Our Lord often
referred to His elect people, didn't He? Here's some of the
things He said about them. Except those days would be shortened,
no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, He
addressed them as His elect. Whom the Father hath chosen.
He not only said they're elect, but He gave us a definition of
that word. Whom the Father hath chosen. Who are the elect? That's
those that the Father has chosen. And the Lord Jesus often made
mention of them. He said, There shall come forth
Christ, and they shall show signs and wonders. If it were possible,
they'd deceive thee very well, if it was possible. He'll send
his angels with the great sound of the trumpet, and they shall
gather his elect from the four winds. Often spoke of his elect,
called them by that name. Shall not the Father, shall not
God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him?"
He often referred to him. Paul referred to him of that
day. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? I
am dear all things for the elect saint that they may obtain the
salvation that's in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. I tell you,
if you're elect, boy, it's well with you, isn't it? It's well
with you. Eternal glory is waiting on you. That's what Paul said.
And you know the scripture refers to the Lord Jesus as the elect
of God. He's the first elect. God calls
Him mighty elect. My servant, mighty elect. I lay
in Zion for a foundation of stone, a tried stone, elect and precious. The scripture refers to angels
as the elect angels. I tell you, if you want God's
elect, you're in good company. Do you know that? You're in the
company of Christ Himself and His holy angels. And what a blessing
it had to be for this lady here, for this inspired apostle, writing
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had discernment
of value, to write this letter and address this woman as an
elect of God. Oh, what a blessing that had.
Wouldn't you like to get a letter like that? Wouldn't that give
you a little bit of assurance? And the second blessing is this.
Here in verse 2, what he said concerning this woman, how he
addressed her and what he said concerning her. And here's what
he said, For the truth's sake which dwelleth in us, in me and
it dwells in you, and shall be with us forever. Now that's a
blessing there. The truth dwells in you. The
truth is in you. You know the truth. Oh what a
blessing to know the truth. To be born of the truth. Of his own will begot he us with
a word of truth. To be born of truth. To have
a new man within you, a new nature within you, born of God, born
of truth. To hear the truth. To believe
the truth? To know the truth? You have purified
your souls in believing the truth through the Spirit? To be saved
by the truth? God would have all men to be
saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. You know, truth
saves a man, won't it? Truth will save you. And John
wrote to this woman, he said, the truth is in you. Oh, what
a blessing. What a blessing. To know the
God of truth. To know Christ who is the truth.
To know the Word of truth. To have the Spirit of truth abiding
in your soul. Oh, what a blessing. What a blessing. I tell you the truth, I tell
you, you don't see much of it in this world, do you? It's a
scarce thing. And to have it in your heart,
to have it in your heart, what a blessing. The greatest blessing
ever bestowed upon a man or a woman is to have the truth dwelling
in them. I'm convinced of that, brothers
and sisters. The Lord says, you continue in my word, you're my
disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth. And the truth
shall make you free. Free from the law or happy condition. Jesus has bled and now there's
remission. That's the truth. And some of
you know it, don't you? You know it. The truth. The truth.
And how long did John say this truth would be in this woman?
He said forever. Forever. The truth is in you
and shall be with you forever. You know where God begins His
work. He goes with us. When the Holy Ghost comes to
seal a man, how long does He seal him for? Until the day of
redemption. And when Christ comes to abide
in our house, He don't leave and go to another house. He don't
go from house to house. I don't know, Steve, about what
you think of going from house to house. I don't know about
that, but I know Christ does it, doesn't He? When He comes
to your house, today I must abide at your house. And when He comes
to Zacchaeus' house, He never did leave his house. And when
the God of truth comes and takes up His residence in your soul,
He'll never leave you. He'll never leave you. Now He
won't do it. He never will leave you. He may
withdraw His presence sometime in respect to communion. He may
do that, and boy, our hearts get heavy when he does that.
We pray with David, Lord, how long? How long? My heart goes
about down. What's the matter, David? He's
hid his face from me. He's hid his face from me. But
I tell you this much. He'll never completely withdraw
his presence. He never will. If the truth abides
in you today, when you pillow your dying head, the truth will
be in your stem. It will be in your step. That's a blessing
in. John addressed this woman that way. This is a powerful thing, holy
thing this truth is. And you know this is why we love
one another. Look there again in verse 1. This is why you and
I love one another. The elder to the elect lady and
her children whom I love in the truth. I love her in the truth
and that's why I love her. That's why I love her. No physical
attraction. You talk to some ladies, bless
their hearts. Pick on you ladies just a little
bit. But you say, you talk to some of your sisters and you
say, you're such a beautiful person. And it goes to their
head. It goes to their head. You know,
pretty soon, boy, they just... But you know what we're talking
about? We're talking about that beauty that's in your heart.
Beauty that's in your heart. We see Christ in you. And that's
why we love you. Some of us here, boy, we went
through some things together, haven't we? We have. We went through brokenheartedness
together. I've seen tears on your cheeks
and you've seen them on my cheeks. Trials with our family and our
children. We went through some tough things
together. But there's a bond that has held us together. And
what is that? It's truth. I love the truth
I see in you. And you love the truth you see
in me. That's what binds us together. It's not having a bunch of things
in common. It's this one thing we have in
common. I love you for the truth sake, that's in you. I love Christ
in you, and you love Christ in me. That's what John said. Oh
what a blessing, what a blessing that is. Truth that mounts the heart.
And really and honestly, it can only be said that we know the
truth, when we love the truth. That's the only time it can be
said. That person knows the truth when he loves the truth. Paul
said, God shall send them strong delusions that they believe a
lie. Why? Because they receive not
the love of the truth. You know why men won't receive
the truth? They don't love it. They don't love it. You and I
have come to realize something. Finally, I think we've come to
realize this. It took us a while to learn this, but I think all
of us have come to realize this. That we can indeed stuff a man's
head with doctrine, but only God can put the love of the truth
in his heart. We've learned that, haven't we?
And enough just to stuff a man's head full of knowledge. You do
that, and all he'll do is get puffed up and want to argue about
everything. And you can't tell what he's
going to do, what he's going to say, where he's going to go,
who he's going to embarrass. But I tell you, you let a man
receive the love of the truth. And that makes all the difference.
You see him this year and he's walking with the Lord. You see
him next year and he's still walking with the Lord. Why? He
loves the truth. That secures a man's walk. It
will. Oh, John said, the truth is in
you, and that's why I love you. That's why you love me. And everybody
that saw the truth, they love each other. And thirdly, here
in verse 4, another blessing that's here. Look at this. I
rejoice greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth,
as we have received a commandment from the Father. John writes
to this lady. And he said, you know, I observed
your children, your sons and your daughters. And he said,
I rejoiced. I just rejoiced. Because they're
walking in the truth. They're walking in the truth.
They know the truth. They believe the truth. And they're
continuing in that truth in their daily lives. They're walking
in this truth. What children are blessed when
the Lord really saves them, aren't they? I've seen some young people,
dear, dear young people. I know some young people. I mean,
you know, it's a blessing when they profess the truth with their
lips. And you believe that the Lord
has really taught them truth in their hearts. Oh, it's such
a blessing. But I'm telling you, when they leave home and they
go off to college, to those hellish places where
everything is going on, and they continue to profess the truth.
That's a blessing. When they go off into the workforce
and all the backstabbing and everything that goes on there,
and they walk in the truth, that's a blessing. That's a blessing. I rejoice that I found of your
children walking in truth. I have three kids. You know that.
You know that. three kids and more sons-in-laws
and daughters-in-laws than that. And you know what that means.
And you know what's the matter with my children. And you know
what's the matter with my daughter-in-laws and my sons-in-laws. You know
what's the matter with them. They don't love the truth. They
just don't love the truth. And I can't force that love off
of them. God's got to do that. And one of my greatest joys concerning
my children would be just the same thing that brought John
great joy. To see my children walking with
Christ. Walking with truth. That had
to be a great joy to this woman. A great blessing to her. Thy
children walking in truth. So verse 3, thank you. Lady,
I love you in the truth. Your children are walking in
truth. He says here now in verse 3, look at this. He said grace
be with you and mercy and peace. Here's what a man had to say
about this. I really like this about grace and mercy and peace.
He said that's the order in which we have to look at this thing.
He said first of all grace covers our sins and then mercy covers
our miseries. And that's the order it has to
come in. Until grace comes and covers our sins, mercy is not
even allowed to come and relieve us of our miseries. Grace, by
the blood of Christ, covers our sins, mercy comes and relieves
our miseries, and then peace comes. Peace comes. Because of
mercy and because of grace. That's a blessing, isn't it?
That's a blessing. It's in that order. And where
does grace and mercy and peace come from? Look what he said.
From God the Father. But he doesn't stop there, does
he? Some of the Jews stop right there. They stop right there. And really, to be honest with
you, Jehovah's Witnesses stop right there. And Mormons stop
right there. And a lot of other people stop
right there. I never will forget one time in a park where we were
having a picnic for our children or something. This one lady got
up to pray. And I tell you what, she approached
Him to God without a mediator. Never mentioned the name of Christ.
So arrogantly approached Him to God. Never needed Christ. Never needed the mediator. Didn't
know anything about Him as far as I could tell. There's a lot
of people. that thinks there is mercy and
peace from God, the Father, there is none, if you stop right there. And John doesn't stop there,
and the apostles doesn't stop there. You notice what he said?
Grace and mercy and peace from God the Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father. Where does grace come
from? It comes from Christ. It comes from God through Christ.
Where does mercy come from? Through Christ. Where does peace
come from? He made peace by the blood of
His cross. There is no grace. There is no
mercy. There is no peace apart from
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there isn't. There isn't.
You take Him out of the equation, bud, and you're stirring your
sin and death in the face. You take Jesus Christ away as
the only mediator between us and God, you're stirring an angry
God in the face. Now I'm telling you, you are.
Grace is come in Christ Jesus. He's full of grace and truth.
And mercy and peace. But not apart from Him. Not apart
from Him. Who is this Lord Jesus Christ?
Well He said, you and I love this, He said He's the Son of
the Father in truth. He's the Son of the Father in
truth. The disciples said of a truth,
thou art the Son of God. We believe and are sure that
thou art Christ the Son of the living God. Now the Lord Jesus
Christ is not the Son of God figuratively. or in a metaphorically
sense, but in a real sense, He's the Son of God. In a natural
sense, He's the Son of God. Eternally, He's the Son of the
Father. In truth, He said, didn't He?
You see that? The Son of the Father in truth. Now, here's what the Lord Jesus
told His disciples. He said, I left my Father, I've
left my father. I've left heaven. My father's
house. And I've come here. My father
sent me. The father sent me to do his
will. To accomplish his work. To obtain
redemption. To save my people. Ain't that
what he said? He sent me. And that's what He
came to do, and that's what He did. All the truth, He said here,
He is the Son of the Father. That's the truth. When the Lord
Jesus told His disciples who sent Him, why He came, that's
the truth. That's the truth. You can believe
that. You can believe that. He's the Son of the Father. If
He wasn't, He'd have told us. He'd have told us. He wouldn't
have lied to us, would He? That's the truth. He's the Son
of the Father. And when you and I read in the
Scriptures of Jesus Christ, Deity, that He's the Second Person of
that Sacred Trinity, as mysterious as that is, you and I can say
this, that's the truth. That's the truth. He's the Son
of the Father, the Eternal Son of the Father. That's the truth,
ain't it? That's the truth. A lot of people don't believe
that, but it's the truth. It's the truth. And notice again,
He not only said He's the Son of the Father in truth, but in
love. In love. Where is the love of
God revealed? In the Son of the Father. Who
can separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus,
the Lord? God didn't send His Son into
the world to condemn the world. He's already condemned. He sent
His Son into the world to reveal His love by saving us. He didn't come to condemn us.
He didn't come to accuse us. He didn't come to judge us. Don't
think that I will accuse you to the Father. Isn't that what
He's told the Jews? Don't think that I come to accuse
you to the Father. I'm not going to accuse you.
Moses accuses you. That's not my office to accuse
people. It's not my office to condemn
people. It's not my office to destroy
people. I've come in love. The Father
has sent me in love. Why? To save people. To save
lives. Ain't that what He said? God
sent not His Son to condemn the world, but the world through
Him might be saved. That's love, ain't it? That's
love. God didn't send His Son to accuse
us, or to judge us, or to destroy us. Moses could have done that.
Justice could have done that. God sent His Son in love for
altogether different reasons. He sent Him to save us. He's saying in a word, I've come
with a heart full of grace, a body full of blood to take away your
sins. I've brought mercy with me to
relieve your misery. I've come to make peace through
the blood of my cross. That's the truth. And that's
love. My Father sent me to heal the
brokenhearted. Is that what he said? That's
love, eh? That's love. The Father sent me to deliver
the captives. to preach recovery of sight to
the blind and set at liberty those that are bruised. Why is
this so important? I tell you, I lived all through
my teenage years and all I saw was the bad side of God. I've
told you that before. All I saw of God was His frowning
face, that He was ready to pounce on me and destroy me forever. When I thought of God, all I
thought of was vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I'll recompense."
Martin Luther said, a lot of people live seeing only the bad
side of God. But he said, if you want to see
the good side of God, if you want to see the smiling face
of God, if you want to see the love of God, you can see it,
but it's in one place, you see. in His Son, in His Son. That's the true thing. It's there.
Because He's the Son of the Father in love. The love of God is revealed
in Him. The mercy of God is revealed
in Him. Verse 5, look at this. Look at
this. And now I beseech thee, lady,
not as though I wrote some new commandment unto thee, but that
which we had from the beginning, that we love one another." Boy,
this is an old commandment, ain't it? That we love one another. Somebody said we're not looking
for some new thing to believe, but just grace to believe what
we already know. And what do we already know to
love one another? We just keep telling one another
over and over and over. Because the Bible just keeps
telling us that. It's not a new commandment, John
said. It's a commandment you had from
the beginning. That you love one another. And
you know what you and I need, brothers and sisters. We know
where to love one another. We just need fresh grace to do
it, don't we? Present grace to love one another.
That's Christ as love does. And he says here in verse 6,
look at this. And this is love. This is true love. This is not
Hollywood love now. This is not the love of emotion. But this is true love. And here's
where it's evident at. You want to know where true love
is evident? You want to know where true love is working in
the heart of an individual? Look at this. And this is love,
the love of God in us, working in us, that we walk after His
command. I just love him. The Lord Jesus
said, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. Ain't that
what he said? If you love me, keep my commandments. And he
turned right around and said, he that hath my commandments
and keepeth them, he it is that loves me. He said, He that loves
me will keep my word. There's no doubt about it. Why?
Because we love Him. We love His word. His commandments
are not grievous unto us. Gail won't care if the knife
come home and cook Clarence supper. Get up in the morning and fix
him breakfast. She don't care, Gail. Why? She loves Him. She
loves Him. You don't have to holler at her
and make her do that to you. She loves you. She loves you. Look here over just to your
left, just one page. Two commandments of our Lord.
And look at this. Two commandments. Look in 1 John
chapter 3 and verse 23. They came to the Lord one day
and asked Him what the great commandments in the law was.
He said it was love. Love the Lord your God and love
your neighbor as yourself. He said, upon these two things
hangs all the law and the prophets. And look here what the Lord Jesus
said about these grace commandments. Here's a grace commandment. Look
in verse 23. 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 the commandment. Now there's
a grace commandment. Believe on the name of Jesus
Christ, His Son. Now this connects us to heaven.
Faith connects us with heaven. It bonds us to heaven. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God. It brings peace of God to our
hearts. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you shall be saved. Faith brings salvation to our
hearts. Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through
this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and
by him all that believe." shall receive remission of sin. Ain't
that wonderful? It binds us to heaven. Brings salvation to us.
To him gave all the prophets witness that through his name,
whosoever believeth on him is justified from all things. All things. Faith in the Son
of God, Jesus Christ the Lord. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. Never will be. But he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. The name. This is God's commandment
that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. There's
no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. You have life eternal. You have
life eternal. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life. That's His commandment. What
is it to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well,
in a nutshell, brothers and sisters, it's simply this. It's to lay hold upon Him in
your heart. To embrace Him in your heart.
To cleave to Him in your heart as you see Him revealed in the
Holy Scripture. Revealed in His divinity. Revealed
in this, you master both God and man. You believe on Him.
You receive Him. You plead to Him to be saved
by Him. That's what it is to believe
in the name of the Son of God. And to love one another binds
our hearts together. Binds us together in love. Love
is a strong cord. And when you love one another,
that's when Christ is evident. The law commands us to love one
another, but you know something, the law can't give us any grace
to do it. It can't give you any power to do it. Work and run,
the law commands, but neither gives us feet or hands. The sweeter
sounds the gospel brings, it bids us fly and gives us wings. bids us love one another, and
then it sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts. What He
commands, He gives grace to do. That's why these are grace commands.
He commands us to believe on His Son, Jesus Christ, and we
believe through grace. He commands us to love one another,
and He gives us the Spirit of love, shed abroad in our hearts. Grace commands us. Grace. Look back over here now again
in 2 John, verse 7. Verse 7. Why are these commandments
so important? Well, He gives us one reason
here. Why is it important that we believe on the Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ? Believe on Him in His humanity.
Believe on Him in His deity. Both God and man. He says here
in verse 7, look at this. 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. Now some Jews confess that there
was a man by the name of Jesus. But he wasn't the Christ. He
was an imposter. That's what they call him. He
was a deceiver. He was a deceiver. He deceives
the nation. Some believe that Jesus was the Christ, but he
wasn't come in real flesh. He didn't have a human soul. He wasn't born to the virgins.
He wasn't born of our bone and flesh of our flesh, seen and
accepted. All they thought he was, was
the son of God who had merely taken to himself a body. Not
a body born of a virgin, just a body. And he dwelt in that
body. And he died in that body. He
rose in that body. But it wasn't a real body. But
what did he tell his disciples? You handle me and see. I'm flesh. I'm real flesh. I'm real bone. He was real wasn't he? Abraham
saw him back there in a body, but that wasn't a body he was
born to. That wasn't the son of Mary. Jacob wrestled with
him, but he wasn't a man being in a real body. But I tell you
when he came from the virgin womb, he was the son of Mary. He's real. He's real. Some believe
that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, and they believe that
he was really the Christ. The sin of God. And that He died
on the cross after living a perfect life. That He rose again. He
ascended back to heaven. That He really did all of that.
And you know what they said about that? That goes a long way in
saving a man. But that's not enough. Christ
is not enough. You've got to be circumcised
and you've got to keep the law of Moses. Christ cannot in and
of himself save you. He's not enough. You've got to
add something to it. You know what John said about
those fellas? They don't believe Christ has come in the flesh.
They're a deceiver and an antichrist. That's what they are. And others
believe that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, real flesh. born of a woman, sin accepted,
and they believe why He came in the flesh. To save His people
from their sins, to do the will of God completely, that He stood
as their representative, as their substitute, to redeem them, to
secure the forgiveness of their sins, and that in Him they are
perfect, they are accepted, they are complete in Him. And someday
the same Lord that rose in a body and who seated in heaven in a
body is coming again with the voice of the archangel, with
the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ are going to rise,
they're going to be changed, and they're going to be made
just like He is and be with Him forever. And those who believe
that and only that are the same people. Do you know that? John
said, everybody else, no matter what they said about the Lord
Jesus Christ, if they don't believe He came in real flesh to do the
will of His Father, and to accomplish His purpose, they're in the cross.
A lot of people fit under that category, don't they? I know
some of them. How important is this to
us? How important is this to us that Jesus Christ came in
the flesh? both God and man, and accomplished
the will of God and redeemed us and saved us. How important
is that? Look at what He said in verse 8. Here's how important
He said it was. Look to yourselves that you,
that we, you and me, lose not those things which we have wrought,
but that we receive a full reward. You and I understand the gospel,
don't we? We're clear on the gospel. But how did we become clear on
the gospel? It didn't come by being sloppy, did it? You and I have searched the scriptures.
We have listened to good men preach. We have read good books
to become clear on the gospel. We have sought the Lord about
this thing. We've earnestly contended for the faith which was once
delivered unto the saints. That's how we become clear on
the gospel. We want a pure gospel, don't we? We want to believe
a pure gospel. We want to preach a pure gospel. But I'll tell you one thing,
brothers and sisters. You come there after some study, don't
you? How clear were you on the gospel when the Lord first saved
you? I'm ashamed of myself, aren't
you? Paul would surely ask me, have
you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? You don't
act like it. But we've got much clearer, haven't
we? I don't want to lose that to you. From whatever means, through
slothfulness, through neglect, I don't want to lose the clearness
of my understanding of the gospel and be led away with the error
of the wicked. Now somebody said, what happened
to me? I've seen it happen to pretty good fellas. I've seen
some people that I had some confidence in who walked away and erred
in the faith. And when John writes to this
lady and says, you look to yourself, you take heed to yourself, you'll
be sober now, you don't want to lose what you've gained. These people coming to you, these
false prophets and false teachers with this false doctrine concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ and salvation by Him, you better be careful.
Just about the time you think you keep being led astray, you'll
be led astray. grow in grace and knowledge of
the Lord and Savior. Why, Peter? Lest you be led away
with the error of the wicked. And number two is this, and you've
probably experienced this with me. I had times in my early Christian
life where I either lived with no assurance or new assurance. I went through a long, long time
full of doubts and fears. And I tell you, brothers and
sisters, humanly speaking, I come to have a measure of assurance,
the assurance of faith and the assurance of understanding through
many tears and struggles in my soul and searching God's Word
about what a true Christian is. What is it to be saved? And it
was through heartaches and struggles that I've reached the point where
I have a degree of assurance that I'm His and He's mine. I
don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose that. And
whatever means that I may lose that by, I tell you, I don't
want to lose it. Look to yourself, John said.
Look to yourself. I don't want next week to be
out there saying, am I His or am I not? Do I believe the Lord
or no? I want to say with a measure
of assurance, He's mine. I'm His. I believe and I'm sure
that there are for Christ. Don't you want to live that way?
In the light of His presence. Having His smiling face upon
you daily. Knowing. And thirdly is this. It takes
a lot of years. I found this out. I've lived
long enough to find this out. I didn't understand this a number
of years ago. But it takes a lot of years to
build up credibility. With your family. With your co-workers. With your friends. With your
neighbors. It takes a lot of years before they'll begin to
have any confidence in you that you believe what you say you
believe. And I tell you what, after years
of building up credibility, you can lose it in a moment's time.
I don't want to lose that, do you? I don't want to lose that. I want my neighbors, I want my
family, I want my co-workers, when I tell them something, they're
apt to believe it. Because they said they sunk to
that thought. That man believes the truth. I've watched him for
years. I don't want to lose that. Do
you? There's a lot of things I can do that I won't do. And
you feel the same way. And it's right here. I don't
want to lose my credibility. I don't want to lose my witness
with people. Look to yourself, John said.
And look here in verse 9. 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. You know, this world thinks that
the only sin there is is sin of immorality. They think to
sin, you've got to commit adultery, or you've got to get drunk, Are
you going to kill somebody or rob a bank? But you know what
a man thinks of the Lord Jesus Christ can be a sin. You see that? Not to think rightly
of Christ is sin. Not to cleave to the truth as
it is in Jesus is to transgress. To err concerning the doctrine
of Christ is wrong. And God will charge you, man.
Ain't that what He said? Somebody said, it's not what
you believe, it's what you do that determines your relationship
with God. I beg your pardon, you better be careful. You better
be careful. What think ye of Christ? What
think ye of Christ? And boy, your answer is going
to go all the way to heaven. And God's going to listen to
you. What think ye of Christ? You can't be right in anything
else. Except you think rightly of Him.
Look in verse 10 and 11 now. If there come any unto you, and
bring not this doctrine, that Christ is all, in redemption,
in providence. Glenn told us this morning, in
creation, He made all things. Christ is all that. That He's
both God and man, the only Redeemer, the only Mediator. Those in Him
have been redeemed by Him. They're complete. Any brandish
not this doctrine. Receive Him not into your houses,
neither bid Him Godspeed. For He that biddeth Him Godspeed
is partakers of His evil deeds. Boy, there are so many interpretations
I don't have time to even mention. And I ain't going to mention
all the different interpretations. Some people are so strict with
this interpretation. If they see a Jehovah Witness
coming, they'll start screaming at them before they ever get
out of the car. I know one dear brother, my dear, dear brother,
ran one off before she could get out of the car. If you saw
a Jehovah Witness, and you knew he was a Jehovah Witness, laying
outside your house in a blizzard, and he was freezing to death,
I think some people wouldn't even bring him in and warm him
up. That would be awful with him. You know Paul said, if your
enemy's hungry, feed him. He's thirsty, give him a drink.
If you saw a Mormon outside your house and boy, he was naked and
starving to death, would you bring him in and give him some
clothes or feed him? Hey, some people would. I'm telling
you they would. Because they've interpreted this
so strictly. They ain't going to have no false
teacher in my house. But you know what this is, you
know what this is merely teaching. Maybe I shouldn't say merely
teaching, you must teach it. If there comes a false teacher
to your house, deal honestly with him or her. Be up front
with him. Be straight forward with him.
Make sure that that person and everyone that's concerned knows
that you utterly reject their false doctrine. Don't act towards him in such
a way that your family or your neighbors or anyone else would
be led to think that you approve of their false doctrine. That's
what he's saying, ain't it? I think that's what he's saying.
Don't bring them in and say, well, you and I believe a little
bit different. I believe that Christ is God and you don't believe
that, but God bless you anyway. No, be careful. Don't do that. Don't you do that. Be honest
with them. Be honest with them. Be good
to them. Be kind to them. But you make sure they know that
you know that they're false. You don't pussyfoot around about
that. You make sure that they know that you know that they're
a false gospel. They have a false gospel. A false
Christ. You don't have to cuss them.
You don't have to beat them up. You don't have to call your Senators
and try to get a law passed where they can't come around and witness
to you. Just be honest enough probably. They'll get the message.
If you're able to contend with them. If you're able to open
up your Bible and say, here's where you're from. If you're
not, you probably better run them off as soon as they get
out of the car. I'm not messing with you guys. I don't have any
sense. And you'll confuse me. You'll
come back in a year after I've read God's Word and I've established
myself. Then I'll talk to you. But now
I don't have a lick of spiritual sense. You got to wait a while.
You be the judge. You be the judge. And he closes
this epistle with this. I have many things He said to
write unto you. But all I write with a pen With
paper and ink. Boy, it's good to get a phone
call in. Good to get an email. Good to get a letter. But I tell
you, there's nothing like sitting down face to face. Looking at
some dear child of God in the eyes and speaking with them. Our Father in Heaven. Our gracious
Father. Holy Father. the God and the
Father of our Lord Jesus, in truth and in love. Oh, our Father,
we feel this evening that we can bring ourselves to you, right
to you, because we have this wonderful mediator, very gracious,
full of grace and mercy. And because you sit in there,
we can come right to you with all our sins, all our shortcomings,
all our faults and our failures that would utterly drive us into
darkness. But our Father, we come to you.
We address you as our Father through Him, through Him. And we bless you for the great
privilege and necessity of calling on your name. You know us. You know where we are, what we
are, what we've done. We hide nothing from you. And
yet we address you as our Father. our loving and caring Father.
We trust you now. By your grace, we'll trust you
when we peel our dying heads. We'll face hell. We'll face eternity. We'll face your law. We'll face
all things, having no other assurance that Christ is our all in all. Please bless this message. Bless
it to these dear people. Bless us all as we go into our
walks of life this week. Keep us from falling. Keep us
from bringing shame on your name. Keep us from the devil. Keep
us from this world. Keep us from our sins. Oh, keep
us, Lord. Keep us. Bless this dear people
to be a witness to your name, to your glory. Open doors for
them that they may talk of you. And bless us if you'll give us
another week to return here next Sunday to worship with your dear
children. For Christ's sake we pray, Amen.