Share with me in your Bibles,
if you would, to 2 John again. 2 John. I love the books of John. They're small as far as what
men would consider in stature or but certainly not in relevancy. It's full of fatness and marrow
and milk and honey, isn't it? I'm very thankful for what the
Lord's given us in in the second John here. Let's read our text.
Second John, verse seven through nine. For many deceivers are
entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves that we lose
not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive
a full reward. 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. I've titled this message The
Simplicity of Christ. The Simplicity of Christ. Most
complicate the gospel. All in false religion complicate
the gospel. It's not a gospel at all. But
most complicate the gospel. But by God's glorious design
of grace, Gospel's simple. Gospel's so simple that a child
can understand it. A child can understand it. Now,
we know that no one can believe it unless the Lord enables them
to. But it is not hard to understand that God elected a people and
the Son redeemed those people and the Spirit regenerates those
people. And the lows that who the Lord regenerates, He keeps
all the way to the end. takes me and you out of the equation.
That's the simplicity of the gospel. Everything that the Lord
purposed, he accomplished. That's the simplicity of the
gospel. Everything that he, every task that he was given, every
responsibility that the Lord Jesus Christ was given to him
of his father, for those who the father had elected, Christ
Jesus successfully redeemed. That's simple, isn't it? That's
not complicated. We don't understand all the details
of what all that means. We can't enter into everything
that Christ endeared on the cross of Calvary. If you want to know
how dark your sin is, look at the cross of Calvary and how
God dealt with your sin being found upon his son. That's how
ugly sin is to God. How did he deal with his son?
Well, he made his soul an offering for sin. He who knew no sin was
made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. That's how he views our sin. That's not complicated. It's simple. Everything required
the Lord Jesus Christ successfully did. This hour, I hope that we
don't just hear about the simplicity of Christ. I hope we hear his
simplicity. I don't want to hear about the
simplicity. I want to hear him. I want to
hear his simplicity, the simplicity that's found only in Christ Jesus. Simply put, Christ is all in
salvation. That's as simple as I can put
it. Christ is all in salvation. You'd ask the little ones, what
is salvation? The simple answer is Christ is all. Christ is all. Not by works of righteousness
that we have done, but according to his mercy. Not by any goodness
found in me, but all of his goodness. Not by my blood, but his blood. Not by my merits, but his merits. Christ is all in salvation. not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sin. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and all that come to me, I will lose none
of them. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
These are simple truths of our Lord, so simple, so simple, and
yet, No one can believe it unless enabled. I hope the Lord enables
me to believe this. I hope the Lord enables you to
believe this, this simple truth of his gospel. These are not our truths according
to our making. These are not our truths according
to us believing or not believing. I can believe something is true,
but that doesn't make it true. I can believe something is so,
that doesn't make it so. But these are God's truths. God
spoke them, therefore they're truth. They are of Him. They
are by Him. They are for Him. They are to
Him and all for His glory. That's the simplicity of His
gospel. It's all by Him and for Him.
These are God's truth. They are ordained of Him. Now,
we can call that the intro, like I suppose, if you want to. But
the point of the intro is to tell us the simplicity of the
gospel, but then see what John is telling us. He's warning us
of deceivers. He's warning us of anti-Christ. He's warning us of those that
would turn you away from the simplicity of Christ. Notice
in verse 7 what he says again, Now do you know of any religion
that has the title on it as Christian? Now that's, I'm being specific,
it's a Christian religion. Know what people refer to it.
Even the Catholics, they call it a Christian religion. So we
understand what I'm talking about. Do any of those Christian, so-called
Christian religions, say that Jesus Christ did not come in
the flesh? The answer is no. Every single
one of them said Jesus Christ come in the flesh. So what is
John talking about? If a deceiver is one, as he clearly puts here,
many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. If they're the deceivers,
and yet all Christian religions say that Jesus Christ come in
the flesh, what is John talking about? Many people believe in
a baby Jesus. Many people believe that Jesus
is the son of God in word. inward. Many people believe that
he is Emmanuel, God with us, not knowing what that means.
We went to a concert last night where they sung Joy to the World.
They sung all the songs that they sing at Crisp. I love those
songs. I don't think you should sing them one day a year. I think
it should be 365 days a year. Joy to the world. The Lord has
come. Let earth receive her king. He's the king. If you can enter
into that, there's rejoicing in that. Joy to the world. God
became a man. So what is John talking about
then? If everybody has on their calendar,
December the 25th, the Lord was born. That's what men believe.
That's not true, but that's what men believe. Men want to worship
a day, don't they? That's what's in the heart of
men. Men's looking for an idol. And it just so happens it can
be a day and it can be a trinket. It can be a token. It can be,
we worship ourself. I mean, we're idol factories.
We think too highly of ourselves. So what is John talking about?
Those that do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh. Only the believer believes the simplicity of Jesus Christ,
the simplicity of his gospel. And very simply put, it is this.
He's God in the flesh. He's not just a man. Nobody has
a problem with Jesus Christ being a man. Nobody has a problem with
him being able to perform miracles. How many people followed him
around for the miracles? How many people desired, heal my
family member, heal me, give us food that we may eat? How
many? Countless. And even John, the
one that wrote this in the end of John, it says that if they
were to write all the things that the Lord did, the world
couldn't contain the books that God, that the Lord Jesus Christ
did, all the miracles. Understand what John is saying
is it's those who deny his Lord ship as Jesus Christ, who he
is by right and by birth, the King of Kings and the Lord of
Lords, the sovereign creator of the universe, not just baby
Jesus, meek and mild, not a not a false God that says I want
you to let me save you. Please let me save you know the
God that by declaration. Call his name Jesus, he shall
save his people from their sin. And he did, and he did. They
are those who do not believe God became a man. And if they
say that they do, if they say that God became a man, they deny
him by saying, you have to do your part. He wasn't enough God
to save you. That's what they're saying when
men say you have to do your part. They're saying God is not the
Lord Jesus Christ isn't enough God to save you. Yeah, he's he
was partly God and he was partly man, but he wasn't enough God
see the idea of God. The very, him being the I am,
it's his isness. It's his sovereignty. It's his
holiness. Everything he purposes happens. He owns the fullness of the earth. All things are subject to him.
Everything obeys him. I would remind us that when he
spoke to the wind, what did the wind do? It stopped. The Lord
said, peace be still. The wind stopped blowing. You
and I can't do that. See, he was God. He was so much
God that he spoke to the wind and it stopped. And yet he was
so much man that he slept in a boat when the storm was raging.
Think about that. He was a hundred percent man. He was a hundred
percent God. He was so much man that he wept
whenever Lazarus died. And yet with one cry of his voice,
Lazarus come forth. He was so much God that Lazarus
came forth. He was so much man that he bled and shed his precious
blood on the cross of Calvary. And so much God that his declaration,
it is finished. He hath purchased redemption
for his people by his own blood. He's the God-man Jesus Christ.
This is who John is telling us about in this book. And he's
warning us about those who would strip the Lord Jesus Christ of
the simplicity that is found in him. The simplicity of his
isness. The simplicity of his deity.
He is 100% God. He didn't try to do anything.
He didn't make an attempt. He didn't put his best foot forward.
Those are man things. but He was also 100% God. He
couldn't fail. It was impossible for Him to
fail. It was purpose before the foundation of the world. The
earth was spoken into existence by Him. He is the Word of God. That's what the scripture tells
us. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the Word of God. But right before it said that,
it said all things were made by Him. The Lord Jesus Christ
made this earth for the very purpose of redeeming his people.
Men deny him his lordship over what he has made and created,
but we know that he's the potter and we are but the clay. We know
that he is God. He is the author of the book.
He wrote it from the beginning to the end, and he sealed it
with an amen. The Lord Jesus Christ be with
you, amen, in the book of Revelation. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. In the end, the Lord Jesus Christ
be with you, amen. He wrote the whole thing. This is his salvation. This is his work of redemption.
This is simple. This is, this is as simple as
it can get. I mean, we're not complicating this. He's on his
throne and we're not, he is seated as the successful redeemer of
his people. And we're not, we're not, uh, we got to be seated
in him. There's a simplicity. I've got
to be found in Christ. I've got to be seated in Christ
in the heavenlies. John saying they deny the glorious
truth of who the Lord Jesus Christ is, denying the simplicity that
he's God, that salvation is of the Lord. He didn't appear to
Abraham, we heard the first hour, he didn't appear to Abraham and
say, Abraham, I've got a proposition for you. He said, get you up,
Abraham, to a land I'll show you. He didn't appear, he didn't
give Lazarus the opportunity to be resurrected, he said, Lazarus,
come forth. See, he's God, he's God, and it's by his spirit.
It's by His Spirit you and I are birthed into the family of God
that we're called by the same glorious power that brought Lazarus
forth, by the same glorious power that resurrected Christ from
the dead. That's what it takes for you and I to be resurrected
from the dead as well. He says, come forth. And we're made alive. Made alive in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I remember in false religion,
And I love the song, nothing but the blood of Jesus. If we
could enter into that, I mean, that's a glorious song. What can wash
away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
That's the truth, isn't it? That's the absolute truth. So
why does every church sing about it? Well, they, they believe
that it's that that's what it takes is the blood. But then
as soon as they're done singing it, they say, but you have to
do your part. See that's denying that Christ
has come in the flesh. That's denying that God became
a man. That's denying that his blood was sufficient. This is
what John is warning against. He's saying anybody that does
that's a deceiver and they're anti-Christ. It doesn't matter
if they have 99.9% of the facts right and they're preaching that,
that .1% makes them anti-Christ. That's the severity of this gospel.
That's the severity of our message. We've got to be 100% on what
we're declaring. Somebody asked me, I said this the first hour about
getting nervous, but are you afraid to get up there? And it's like,
well, yeah, I got to be 100% accurate. It's not, who's sufficient
to tell men and women about the sovereign creator of the universe
being a worm, him becoming what we are. I mean, if you see the
sin that you are, how can you stand and God's got to do it. God's got to do it. He gets all
the glory for it. It's not, look at me, I'm doing this. No, this
is a fearful thing, a dreadful thing. But I'll tell you something
I found amazing as I've stood before you 200 times. 200 messages
that well, it's what's what's recorded on sermon audio. They
were some wouldn't even recorded on sermon audio, but we're right
at 200. Lord's been faithful 200 times and not leave us utterly
to ourselves. What what grace there is in that
what mercy there is in that and I pray. And I trust that he's
caused us to be as simple as we can be about his gospel every
single time. If we're not simple in the beginning,
we've missed the mark. If we're not simple in the middle,
we've missed the mark. If we're not simple in the end,
we've missed the mark. What is the mark? Paul said,
I pressed towards the mark of the high calling of God. What
is that mark? Jesus Christ alone. That's the simplicity. That's
the simplicity. Anytime you want to know if somebody's
corrupting the simplicity of the Lord, ask yourself this question.
Are they preaching it is finished? Or are they preaching there's
something you have to do? Are they preaching done? Or are
they preaching do? It's that simple. They're preaching
done. They're preaching the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ that it is finished by his work alone. That's
the gospel. He did it. He did it all. He did it all,
but if they're preaching there's one thing you have to do, one
prayer you have to pray, one thought that you have to have,
one foot forward, anything. It's tainted the entire thing.
It's not the gospel, it's Antichrist. Men say you have to make a conscious
decision or God cannot save you. Well, it's hard for a dead man
to make a conscious decision, isn't it? I think we can safely
say it's impossible. It's impossible for a dead man
to make a conscious decision, but aren't you glad the Lord
says live and you're alive and you're found to be that way because
of what he did. There's rest in that. That's simple. Paul
was dealing with some of these that were limiting God's sovereignty
by what they were saying. You can't limit God but you understand
they weren't preaching the fullness of the truth. They weren't preaching
it simply that God has all the power. It's all by His will and
it's all for His glory. That's simple. And in Galatians
you remember he said, I marvel, I marvel that you are so soon
removed from Him that called you by His grace. I marvel that
you are so soon removed. What were they doing? Were they
going completely back to all the Jewish customs and all the
ceremonies and everything? And were they falling prey? No, it was one thing. Just one
thing they were adding. What was it? Circumcision. Something
outwardly that they could see. Something they could say, I've
done that and you've not done that. That means I'm a believer
and you're not a believer. Something that they can lay their hands
on. Something that they can hold to as their righteousness. One
little thing like that. And the scripture's clear, a
little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump. God will not take
leaven. No. You remember the, when we
take the Lord's table, we take unleavened bread. That's what
the children of Israel did whenever they were in Egyptian bondage
and the death angel came. He said, you're gonna eat bitter
herbs and you're gonna eat unleavened bread. That's a picture, leaven's
a picture of sin. Leaven's a picture of sin. God,
you can't have one work involved or it's sinful. It's iniquitous. We can't do it. No, there's the
simplicity. It's gotta be all by grace. No leaven whatsoever,
no leaven whatsoever. Paul said, you've been removed
to another gospel, which is not another gospel, but there are
some that trouble you and would pervert, pervert the gospel of
Christ. This is why throughout most of
the letters of the apostles, we hear the words of encouragement
unto them, stand fast in the Lord, stand fast, hold fast,
press towards the mark, Examine yourself, see if you'd be in
the faith. These are encouragements not to see if we have, not that
we have the power in ourself to do anything, but examine yourself. See if your righteousness is
found in Christ alone or is there one little bit of leaven there?
Because if there's leaven, it's not simple. If there's leaven
in it, it's damning to the soul. Can't have any. Can't have any. all these exhortations and encouragements. It's the same thing what he's
saying here in verse eight, look to yourself. He's not saying
look to yourself for your salvation. He's not saying look to yourself
to see if you've made the right decision or look to yourself if you've
done this and that. No, look to yourself that we lose not
those things. Look to yourself that we lose
not those things. Do we not come together? Do we not come together
for the desire of hearing the simplicity of Christ alone? And
is it not true that when you hear something that is not the
simplicity of Christ, it is like nails on the chalkboard. That's
what John's talking about here. That's what John's talking about.
If it's not the perfect symphony of the finished work of Christ
Jesus, then it's a perversion. It's perversion. That's what
he's warning us against. This deceit that comes in. No, one jot or tittle added means
we've ruined it. Taking away one thing from it
means it's tainted it. And we fail to declare the simplicity
of Christ. And if we do, and this is a fearful
thing, brethren. This is a fearful thing. If we
do, if we add one thing to it or take away one thing from it,
we are anti-Christ. That's it. That's the truth of
it. That's how serious it is. And that's how needful it is
that we preach the simplicity that is found in the Lord Jesus
Christ alone. Now John's warning us about deceivers.
A deceiver is one that doesn't tell the full truth. I wanna
make sure that I'm clear this morning. If someone tells 99%
of the truth, that's not the truth. It's gotta be the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As we heard the
first hour, it's all by the truth, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's gotta
be him alone. But sometimes a deceiver will twist it. They'll contort
it, they'll bend it. Remember, we're all adults, so sometimes
we bend the law, don't we, a little bit? I'm sure there's nobody
else in here that speeds but me, right? We bend the law. How much can I get by with? Can
I get by with five? Can I get by with 10? Depending on the
circumstances, I'm telling way too much on myself, but you understand
what I'm saying. When it comes with God, there is no bending
the rules. It's the truth, or it's a lie.
Men try to bend the Word of God. They say, yeah, it's all of grace. And they really believe that
they're saying it's all of grace. But they say, there's something
else you have to do. Then it's not of grace. It's a work. See,
the Lord's absolute. This is a simple gospel. This
is not complicated by design. The Lord says, no, it's all of
grace or it's all of works. It's that simple. Yeah, but don't
I have to do? No. What if I don't know? Stop. Rest. That's your obligation. Rest. And if you can't, resting's
not a work, is it, by definition? Rest is done with eyes fixed
on the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Rest is all of grace. Rest. No, we're not like the deceivers
that bend it, contort it, twist it, manipulate it to try to get
the praise of man. That's what it's all about, is
the praise of man. I talked to a preacher one time. He told
me, after he found out I'd become a pastor here and what I believed,
he said, if I preached what you preach, I wouldn't have a congregation.
He told me by saying that, that his entire congregation's lost.
That's what he told me. If it's not the simplicity of
Christ that someone's wanting to hear, that someone has to
have, they're not a believer. We've got to have Christ. We've
got to have his gospel. Our hope is that the Lord's merciful
and calls those who don't believe yet. He promised he would. Not one sheep he's gonna lose.
He's gonna get them all. He already has them. We've just got to preach Christ.
And if those, some leave and some stay, it's all by grace. The Lord's got to do it. Lord,
keep us. Keep us looking to you. Keep us in your simplicity, because
if I'm left to myself, I'm going to pervert it. I'll become anti-Christ. Did you know your flesh right
now is anti-Christ? Yes, right now. Everything about
this flesh is anti-Christ. The Lord didn't come to save
the flesh. This flesh is going to go back to the dust from whence
it came. This body is going to die. He came to save the soul,
the eternal part. When this incorruptible when
this corruptible shall put on incorruption this mortal put
on immortality then the glory shall be revealed that Christ
has given to his people that's in them right now that's in us
right now Christ in you the hope of glory that glory will be revealed
and will be made like him for we shall see him as he is there's
our hope he did all that we didn't do any of that he did all of
that It is sad to know that a lot
of, did you know that you were in false religion when you were
in false religion? Not until the truth came. Not until the
truth came. How much, a blind man can know
that he's blind, but if he was born blind, he really doesn't
know what he's missing out on, does he? Don't know what color is,
like we know what color is. Don't know, probably you understand
what I'm saying, but what about when the Lord opens the eyes
of the blind man and you see for the first time? What is that
glorious, can we imagine that glorious experience? I was blind,
now I can see. I didn't know I was in false
religion until the Lord caused me to see him. Now I know that
that's not the truth. I've seen the truth. I believe
the truth. He's made me do so. That's the
simplicity. What calls this blind man to
see? Calls us to see, say unto us, receive thy sight. There's
our need. It's got to be him doing it. We must preach Christ simple.
He's got to do it all. Paul said, woe is me if I preach
not the gospel. Woe is me if I preach not the
gospel. This is also the simplicity of
Christ is also the good doctrine that's mentioned here. We're
not. We're not looking for anything
new, are we? We're not looking for some new doctrine, some new
angle, some new... We have one hope. One hope, and
it is the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's that
simple. And every time we come together, we want to hear of
that one hope that Christ successfully redeemed his people. I am the
chief sinner, and Christ has put away my sin. That's what
I want to hear. Not by works of righteousness
that I have done, but what he has done. We have one hope. That's
good doctrine. Look in our text, 2 John. Let's read this again, verse
seven. For many deceivers are entered
into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves
that we lose not, that we lose not those things which we have
wrought, but that we receive a full reward, but that we receive
a full reward. Whoso 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. In speaking of the doctrine of
Christ, most men talk about The things that we preach often,
election, sanctification, justification, they say that those things are
the meat of the word and we need to preach the milk of the word.
Brethren, that's the very milk of the word. Being justified
freely by his grace, that's the very milk of the word. That's
good doctrine. So what is the meat of the word?
Love. Love is the meat. We're compelled by love to love
one another, love unto him. The simplicity of Christ is his
finished work on the cross of Calvary. That is the milk of
the word and it is good doctrine. He says, hold fast to that. Don't
lose focus of that. He is our doctrine that we profess. Everything revolves around him.
And if it doesn't, it's not good doctrine. It's not good doctrine. Now he also says here that we
look to ourselves that we lose nothing. lose not those things
which we have wrought, that we have gained is what that word
is, but that we receive a full reward. What is your hope of
reward? What is your hope of reward? Is it a crown? Is it
a mansion? I got a, I remember hearing the
song sung. I may have told you this before,
but I've got a mansion just over the hilltop. You ever heard that
one before? I don't want a mansion. Lord said in my father's house
are many mansions. And he said, I'll go to prepare a place Place,
what is that place? That's the cliff of the rock.
That's the place nigh unto the Father. The only place where
His glory is ever revealed is in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I've got to be found in Him. He is the reward. He
is the reward to His people. That's simple, isn't it? That's
the simplicity of Christ. No, we're not deceivers. We preach
Christ crucified as simple as we can, that he did it all. We
preach that our reward is found in Christ alone, or we have no
reward. We preach that he deserves all glory and honor and praise
because of what he's done for his people. And we rest in him. We don't do, it's done. We don't
work, it is finished. This is the simplicity that's
found only in Christ Jesus. To declare anything else is to
deceive. It's to confess that Jesus Christ did not come in
the flesh. That's what John's talking about here. See, there's
no middle ground. No middle ground. And I don't
say this to be ugly to any church. I have no church in my mind right
now whereby I'm making this statement, but if they don't preach this
gospel, they are a false church and they are antichrist. It doesn't
matter what the church is. There's only one gospel. There's
only one Lord. There's only one faith. There's
only one baptism. This is very clear throughout
the scripture. It's so simple. It's so simple. Unless God reveals
the simplicity to us and them, we're doomed, we're damned. But
he is pleased, he said, all those that are of the truth, all those
that are of the truth hear my voice. Therefore, he says, look
after these things. That's what he's saying. Look
after the things you've gained in Christ Jesus. Look to them
as your righteousness before God, what the Lord has given
you. What has he given us? All the fruit of the spirit,
love, joy, peace, gentleness, meekness, temperance, faith,
long-suffering. David said, surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. This is the
simplicity that's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not based
on our merits, but based on what he done. We just preach Christ.
In closing, I'll tell you this, Paul told Timothy, preach the
word. Be instant in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and
exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will
come when men will not endure sound doctrine, but will heap
to themselves teachers having itching ears. They'll be turned
away from the truth, and they'll be turned into fables." What
is Paul warning Timothy about? Those that are anti-Christ, those
that would add one thing to the truth or take one thing away
from it. Well, how do we reprove? How do we rebuke? How do we resort?
He just told us, preach the word. Preach the Lord Jesus Christ
in simplicity, and it will reprove, and it will rebuke, and it will
exhort God's people. It's all we have to do. Now that
sounds pretty easy, but that's the most impossible task on the
face of the planet. God has to do that. He has to
preach the word. He has to make it effectual.
He has to do the entire work, doesn't he? Give grace to say
it, give ears to hear, give life to live. He's got to do it all.
We just preach Christ Jesus. preach not this sound doctrine
as to transgress as he said there. Do we preach sound doctrine?
The Lord calls us to. Calls us always to preach Christ
simply. Otherwise we transgress. But if you transgress, if you
transgress not. Let's see what that says again. I closed my Bible too early again
didn't I? Verse nine, who so 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. What
does it mean to abide in the doctrine of Christ? It means
to be found in him. Preach Christ alone, be found
in him. It's not that we abide by us
abiding, it's that he has caused us to be in the Lord Jesus Christ
abiding. He is our life, it's in him we
live, move, and have our being. Now he that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. Aren't you glad
it's simple? It's not complicated. The Lord
calls us to believe this simple truth. Calls us to believe this
simple truth. Here in just a moment we're going
to, our brother Rob has asked to confess Christ in baptism.
We have that opportunity this morning. So we'll remain seated
for this time. Rob, you can go ahead and go
get prepared. We'll turn to number 352 in our hymnals. Remain seated. 352.