2nd John 1-6
Protect your home - part 1
“Would you open your Bibles with me to...”
2John 1 THE ELDER, To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth,
Pray
Intro
√ Written by John “the beloved”
Following John’s style he never actually identifies himself by name within the text.
However, all of the early Church fathers attribute these letters (1st, 2nd & 3rd John) to John - the apostle of Jesus Christ.
Also, the writing format bears John’s signature style with an emphasis on love, truth and Jesus Christ being clearly presented as God in human flesh.
Note that John simply calls himself…
"The elder"
…or literally…
"the old man"! J
It is the Greek word "presbyteros" and was also used in the early Church to identify those who were eyewitnesses of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
√ Written to Christians
We note in vs. 1 that John addresses his letter to…
"To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth"
The word "elect" means "chosen" and is often used in the New Testament as a reference to believers.
However, there is some question as to whether John was writing to a literal woman and her children…
…or if he used the terms "lady" & "children" in a figurative sense to mean a local church (lady) and its members (children).
Perhaps the best solution is to understand that John is writing to a church that meets in a woman's home - much like the church that met in Aquila & Priscilla's home (I Cor. 16:19)
Regardless, the purpose of John's note is encourage and warn believers to continue following Jesus in Truth & Love.
Why was this warning so important? Because false teachers were worming their way into the home!
In John's day the false teachers (antichrists) were not only invading the churches, they also tried to infiltrate Christian homes! (II Tim. 3:6)
The reason of course is that a local church is only as strong and effective for Jesus as the homes, which make up the church body.
Therefore, Satan targets Christian homes!
The instruction then in 2nd John is that Christians are called upon to protect their homes (and church) from false teachers and their false doctrine.
Ap. Protect your home!
We live in a time, which is overrun with ungodly influence, and false doctrines that try to invade our homes via TV, radio, and door-to-door salesmen…
…we need to know how to keep these false teachers away from our homes!
John's letter provides us a model for protecting our family from Satan's lies:
Know the Truth (vs. 1-3)
Practice the Truth (vs. 4-6)
Protect the Truth (vs. 7-11)
Enjoy the Truth (vs. 12-13)
Parents, its our job! Attending church and Sunday school will help to equip us for this important duty…
…but we’ve got to implement these Truths 24/7 in your home!
If you’ve ever suffered with a loved one who has been seduced by cults or false religions you know how important this instruction is!
Know the Truth (vs. 1-3)
2John 1 THE ELDER, To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth,
2John 2 because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever:
2John 3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
√ Know the truth
In John's short introduction he mentions "truth" 4 times! Obviously truth is a foundational issue of our Christian experience.
Why is truth so important?
Because John's love for the saints to whom he is writing is founded upon, and predicted on God's Truth!
Truth is also the basis of our fellowship, first with God, then with one another.
That is, truth was the common bond that they shared as believers in Jesus. From that foundation of truth grew a God-inspired love for one another.
They loved one another because they loved Jesus!
As Christians we love one another in part because we each love Jesus. For the Christian, Jesus is…
Our precious Savior
Our Master Whom we worship
The focus of our love and attention
The One we most enjoy talking about
…so, we find fellowship, communion, common ground, with one another because of our love for Jesus.
Ex. I love those in my “Christian” family more than even some of blood relatives because we have a common bond in Jesus!
Someone might ask…
“What truth binds Christians together in love?”
√ What truth?
Well there are certainly many scriptures, which speak of Truth…
Jesus is the “Truth” – John 14:6
The Word of God is the “Truth” – 2nd Cor. 6:7
The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of “Truth” – John 14:7
…and dozens more. However, in context with John’s warnings against false teachers (antichrists) I think if best to understand these verses as speaking of the Truth relating to the Person of Jesus Christ.
1Jo. 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1Jo. 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
1Jo. 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
And
1Jo. 4:6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
The foundational Truth, which binds us together in love, is that Jesus Christ is unique of all men in that He alone is God come in human flesh!
This is the Truth we must know, which we must hold to, and teach our families, if we are to protect them from the false teachers and their false doctrines.
The Christian faith stands of falls on the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ.
If He is only a man, then He cannot save us, no matter how gifted or unique He might be.
If He is only a man, then we who have trusted in His sacrifice have trusted in vain and are still in our sins!
Only God could take away the sins of the world!
√ How do we know the Truth?
By carefully studying God’s Word, listening to His Spirit, and by listening to others who are called by God to teach us His Word.
Parents, may I add one more important instruction for protecting your children from the lies of Satan?
Don’t just teach your kids what to think, rather, teach them how to think!
We make a huge mistake by simply teaching our children what “truth” is according to God’s Word…
…and never teaching them how we came to that rational conclusion.
Ex. Belief in Jesus Christ as Savior of the World is a rational decision.
Many people wrongly believe that all they have to do is pound this truth into the heads of their children and they’ll believe it!
Have you ever heard a parent say (while angry & yelling) something like…
“It’s true because the Bible says its true”
…and yet, that same parent has never bothered to take the time to patiently instruct their children how they came to that conclusion.
Instead they want their children just to accept that what the Bible says about Jesus is true and that it is wrong for them to even question it.
Here’s the problem; that same child is going to grow up and leave home, maybe attend a secular college or university where a well-educated teacher is going to call into question the deity of Jesus.
Then meticulously point out all the so-called evidence that “proves” that Jesus is not God – in fact they’ll claim that He never even suggested that He was!
And the only defense that we’ve taught our children is to say…
“My folks said its true because the Bible says its true!”
When the laughter in the classroom dies down that same precious student will begin to question what the believe because they don’t even know why they believe it!
So, teach your children how to think. Any person who is truly open-minded and rational, who will examine the evidence will come to the same conclusion that John did…
…the Truth is that Jesus is God in human flesh.
Ap. Good book for your teens
“How to be your own selfish pig” – Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Practice the Truth (vs. 4-6)
2John 4 I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.
√ Practice the Truth
In vs. 4 we find John excited that he had run into some believers from this home church who were…
“walking in truth”
That is, these Christians whom John had met were actually practicing what they preached!
In the Bible the word “walk”, or “walking” when used as it is in vs. 4 & 6 speaks of a person’s conduct in life, and their attitude toward life.
John’s point in this section is that Christian our to not just know the Truth…
…they must also practice the Truth!
The way a person walks communicates volumes about who they are, or at least who they think they are!
Ex. Guys and their “I’m bad” walk.
In the same way, our conduct in life, and our attitude toward life, communicate to others what we’re all about.
The folks who John had run into conducted themselves in a manner that was consistent with what they declared to be true about their lives…that they knew the Truth!
That is…
They acted like Jesus!
Their attitude toward life was like that of Jesus!
So, John rejoices in the good testimony of these saints who not only knew the Truth, but also practiced it in their daily lives.
Note John’s next instruction in vs. 5-6.
√ Keep walking in the Truth!
2John 5 And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another.
2John 6 This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.
Whether John is speaking to an individual lady, or to a congregation of believers doesn’t change the instruction…
…he reminds (“plead”s) them to continue to walk according to God’s commandments.
That is, keep practicing the truth! Specifically…
“that we love one another”
John understood that one of our human weaknesses is that we tend to lack endurance for the long haul!
Whereas we might find it easy to “love one another” for the first month of two after coming to faith in Christ…
…over the long haul we often fall back to our old ways and become unloving to the very people that we once found easy to love!
Ex. Loving the “odd bird”
Keeping a vigilant eye on our own conduct and attitude will protect others and us from false teachers.
How?
Because if we cease to practice the Truth as expressed by loving the “odd bird” or high-maintenance person, they will often become the next victims of a cult who will “love” them!
On the other hand, if we continue to submit ourselves to His will and extend the true love of God to all people…
…then we will create an environment of true Agape love where people will be drawn to Jesus because they can see the difference over the substitute that the cults offer.
Ap. Always practice the Truth!
One of the most sure-fire ways that we can turn our kids off to the message of Truth is to not live it at home!
Ex. The Sunday only Christian
Our kids are smarter than we realize! They’re also very observant, they’re always watching us to see if what we say is real or not…
…demonstrated by how we live our lives.
If our kids only see us reading the Bible at church, or they see us put on our “Christian face” when we get out of the car in the parking lot – if they see that we are not practicing the Truth in our own life outside of the walls of the church building…
…guess what? They’ll not walk in the Truth either!
Parents, the best way to protect our kids from false teachers and false doctrines is to let them see us practice the Truth at all times!
That doesn’t mean that we pretend to be perfect!
What it does mean is that we make an honest effort to walk the talk, to practice the Truth in our lives, and when we blow it – model the Truth by being honest enough to admit that we blew it and then seek to make it right.
So, John instructs
believers to practice the Truth.
Close
√. Protect your home!
John reminds us that false teachers are working to invade not only the local church, but also our families.
We can protect our home from Satan's lies by…
Know the Truth (vs. 1-3)
Practice the Truth (vs. 4-6)
Next week we’ll finish John’s instruction where we learn that we are called to…
Protect the Truth (vs. 7-11)
Enjoy the Truth (vs. 12-13)