2 John 7-8
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Welcome back to Confessors of Christ Church!
You have joined us midway through our exploration of the letter known as 2nd John.
Last week’s is up on Youtube, so if you missed it, be sure to check it out and just watch it as if you are watching a pre-quel.
We are pretty used to that these days so it shouldn’t be too difficult.
Next week we will conclude 2nd John though this is the second week i’ve claimed this and changed course.
I had full intentions of making these 13 verses into 1 sermon, however
The more I studied these verses, the more I wanted us as a congregation to dig in and wrestle through what John is telling us.
However, I believe that next week will indeed be the final message on this really intense and wonderful letter we have before us.
Before us today, we will look at just two verses in the letter of 2nd John.
So let us make haste to our Bibles as we seek to see God’s message to us today.
Open your Bibles or turn them on if that is your preference to the very back of your Bible.
If you get to Revelation or Jude you’ve gone too far, if you find Hebrews, James, and Peter you are almost there.
We will be in 2nd John verses 7 - 8
Hear the inerrant and infallible Words of God!
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.
Last week we explored the idea that John was putting forward about Love and Truth.
And we cannot have one without the other.
We must have love but our love must be rooted in the foundation of truth or it is no longer love.
And we must have truth, with love, because without love, we will be arrogant, prideful, and off putting.
Specifically, we must hold truth to the highest standard since God is Truth.
But, we also wrestled with the biblical understanding that God is Love.
Thus we need to hold love to the highest standard without compromising truth.
The question that naturally comes forth is how does this play out.
Thus we discovered how we are to engage with love and truth with other believers.
What we witnessed is that if we make love the priority at the expense of truth, then we are actually unloving.
In order for us to love effectively we have to have a basis for our love rooted in truth.
Thus we need to love through truth.
On the flip side, if are focus is on truth and we are not concerned with love, then we will ruin our relationships.
We will become prideful, arrogant, and miss the key component necessary for living on mission with other believers.
Thus, we must have our interactions with believers saturated in love as we hold fast to the indisputable truth of God.
Since we spent last week looking at how love and truth impacts our relationship with believers....
These next two weeks we are going to see how love and truth impacts three specific groups.
1st - How does Love and Truth effect our interactions with those who are deceivers.
2nd - How does Love and Truth effect our interactions with those who claim to be believers but are deceived.
3rd - How does Love and Truth effect our interactions with Unbelievers?
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We will focus on the first 1, how Love and Truth effects our interactions with those who are deceivers this week.
Then next week we will wrap up with how Love and truth effects our interactions with those believers that are deceived and unbelievers.
I believe this is a very important message to us by God through the Apostle John in order to bring clarity to our engagements.
I think we can all agree and understand how we are to deal with each other as believers.
However, things get a bit hazy and uncertain when we are called to engage with unbelievers and deceivers.
These next two weeks should answer a lot of questions for us in our quest to live biblical in light of the false narratives around us.
John begins with those he categorizes as deceivers and anti-Christ so let us begin there as well.
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
John begins verse 7 with the problem that needs to be addressed.
Many deceivers have gone out into the world.
This was an issue in the early church, continued to be an issue in the middle ages, was the cause of the reformation, and continues to be an issue, today.
The first point we need to embrace, though it isn’t a fun point to embrace, is that there are deceivers all around us.
We must not give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
We must not be naive when it comes to truth.
We must be ready, willing, and able to discern the truth that God has given us.
Now many may think that this is the job of the pastor or the evangelist to be ready to engage with deceivers.
While this is true, it is also the job of every believer to be aware and have discernment in order not to be deceived. (Pause)
John points out that there isn’t just one deceiver that has gone out into the world but many.
This means that there won’t just be one person we need to be aware of, but many who are actively trying to deceive the believer.
This leads us to a question.
How confident are you in the knowledge of God’s Word, His revealed standard and truth, to be able to discern against those who are trying to deceive. (Pause)
What makes this tricky is that deceivers will make it seem as if they are speaking about God and for God.
That is why they are deceivers.
They will blend truth with lies.........who else seems to do that well?
Satan, in the Garden, blended truth and lies together in order to deceive Eve.
Satan is known as the great deceiver.
There are many who try to deceive and some are easy pick them out as they are so far off course that it will not effect the believer.
We can take Hinduism and the belief in many gods and easily see how this will not effect the believer.
Hinduism can and does deceive many unbelievers, but the believer usually does not struggle with Hinduism.
But, the believer can struggle with something like Islam, that believes in One God and believes in Jesus as a Prophet.
Believers can struggle with cults that take aspects of Christianity and weaves together falsehoods with truths.
This is why it is very important for us to ask the question if we are able to discern the differences.
Next John gives us one example of a deceiver.
John is not saying this is the exhaustive list, but one that they would have been intimately familiar with in John’s day.
Here’s what he says, “Those who do not confess that Jesus came in the flesh, these are deceivers.”
There were a group known as the “gnostics” that believe that Jesus came in as Spirit but was not fully flesh, but gave the appearance of flesh.
This was also known as Doe-See-Tism
This false teaching is very harmful because it not only goes against Jesus’s direct words of Himself, but would negate the importance of the cross and the resurrection.
We don’t hear much of this today, and I had to go look up how to pronounce Doe-See-Tism, because it isn’t an every day issue, anymore.
However, while Doe-See-Tism isn’t an issue, there are many deceivers still today,
and many different ways that they bring about their deception in the 21st century.
John says that such a one deceives in such a way is an, anti-Christ.
Since John gave us an example of a deceiver in his day, I want to give us examples of deceivers in our day.
These are examples of deceivers that can be readily found in churches all over America and some even in our backyard.
Now, I’m also going to name names and point out different groups.
You may be bothered by this, and perhaps find it uncharitable to do so.
but Paul himself calls out people by name in His letters, and Jesus calls out groups who are doing harm.
If you are a note taker these are very important notes to write down and will be very helpful.
I’m going to go through 10 points of a deceiver and false teacher for us to consider.
I’m indebted to Rick Becker who not only put together these 10 points but made them all start with the letter M.
Which should be very helpful in remembering these and working through them.
So, let us now dive into 10 ways we can test to see if we are dealing with someone or some group who is a deceiver.
1. Deceivers are Man Centered
This is one of the most popular false teachings of our day is the Man centered approach.
You are either Christ Centered, where Jesus is the hero, or you are Man-Centered where you become the Hero.
Joel Osteen is who comes to mind right away with his famous, “Best Life, Now” book and teachings.
The Man-Centered approach is how God is here to meet all of your needs.
Christianity is about you.
God’s role is to figure out how He can best elevate your life.
In actuality It is all about self love, Yet, the Bible calls us to give up ourselves.
Joel Osteen rattles off encouragements of how you are great, you are amazing, you have what it takes, you can live your best life now.
Joel Osteen would be a phenomenal self-help coach, but makes a blasphemous pastor.
Joel makes you the heroes of the story, when the Bible shows us that Jesus is the Hero of the story.
Christianity is about God.
One of the most famous accounts is when Matt Chandler, a pastor from Texas, took on Steven Furtick and Elevation Church.
During Steven Furtick’s Code Orange revival a sermon was preached about David and Goliath, and how we are the giant slayers.
It is up to us to slay the giants in our way and we are David.
Matt Chandler, when it is his turn to preach, gets up and declares in His famous line, “You’re not David.”
Then goes on to tell us how David represents Jesus, not us, and how David and Goliath give us an illustration of Jesus defeating Satan.
How if we want to know who we are in the story of David and Goliath, we are the Israelites in the back scared out of our minds thinking we are about to die,
Yet, many preachers try to insert ourselves as the hero, as David, as Moses, as Solomon.
But Jesus is the hero of David and Goliath and Jesus is the hero of every story.
If we try to make ourselves out to be Moses, or David, or any other biblical character, we will see how far short we fall.
But, that is why Jesus is the hero and we are not. That is why we need a Christ-Centered theology not a man-centered one.
A Man Centered teaching is addressing your felt needs and how Christianity will give you everything you want.
Instead of what Christianity actually does, Christianity gives you everything you need.
When speaking about this Rick Becker speaks of this he says, your emotions will be tickled while your conscience is ignored.
If the messages you are hearing and the books you are reading is all about me, me, me, and not about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, then you know there is a problem.
We won’t sing songs from Elevation church for this reason. Though they are wildly popular, the promote man-centered theology.
Now here is where we must be wise and use discernment.
Joel Osteen raises his Bible before his message. Joel Osteen speaks about God. This is what makes deceivers, deceptive.
Steven Furtick pastors a mega church and has mega book deals, wouldn’t he be someone important if he is that famous? No.
Furtick has said some really awful things. He’s compared Himself to almighty God calling himself the same thing.
He’s said that God broke the law for love. Which is a completely blasphemous thing to say, because Jesus fulfills the law doesn’t break it.
It would seem like he is speaking God’s truth, but when you compare his teachings to the Scriptures, you’ll see that God’s goal is not to elevate you, but for you to see Jesus high and lifted up.
2. Deceivers Misrepresent the nature of God and man.
We see this happening in many movements of today and most recently in the United Methodist Church.
Right now the Methodist are in the middle of a world wide church split over the LGBT movement.
The cause of this is misrepresenting the nature of God.
The United Methodist are embracing the idea and concept of love and how God is love.
But, they are doing that by negating God is truth.
Therefore, since God is love, we can love who we want, how we want, in whatever way we want, because love is from God.
However, they have decided to ignore the fact that God sets the standard for love, and it is God who defines love.
To give a new definition of love and embrace culture’s definition instead of God’s definition is to deceive the church and misrepresent the nature of God.
God’s love is so great that Jesus died for sinners.
Yet this same loving God is also a righteous, and consuming fire that hates evil and punishes sin.
We cannot cherry pick the things we like and then warp them into something that it is not, while ignoring the hard truths that would convict us.
This misrepresents who God is and what He has shown Himself to be in the Scriptures.
Now we can also misrepresent the nature of Man, too.
We can say that man is good, and generally good.
We just occasionally make mistakes or trip up here and there, but man is not depraved.
We make ourselves out to be victims instead of the perpetrator.
If we see a teacher, denomination, or group that misrepresents the nature of God and/or the nature of man, then we must avoid their teachings.
3. Deceivers promote Methods
When we speak of methods we are speaking of unbiblical concepts that are meant to grant us something.
One of the most prominent one of our day is the sinner’s prayer.
If you pray these simple words then you will be a Christian.
Yet, that is not how Salvation works and they are deceiving people in thinking that an alter call, a raised hand, or certain prayer saves.
There is no sinner’s prayer in the Bible and getting someone emotionally riled up so that they will repeat a prayer doesn’t save you.
Salvation is a work of God, not a work of man.
This doesn’t mean that we do not need to respond to God’s work. We absolutely do.
But, it is the result of our salvation not the earning of our salvation.
Thus a prayer, a raised hand, an alter call, is not what brings about salvation.
It is God’s transformation in your heart, that upon hearing the Gospel, through the power of the Spirit, allows you to recognize your sin, and gives you an authentic confession, that gives you the assurance of your salvation.
Raising your hand, going to an alter, these do not grant assurance.
It is why you’ll go to a church and you’ll see the same people every week going to the alter trying to get saved.
I think I said the sinner’s prayer 10 different times in my late teens but wasn’t actually saved until my early 30’s.
I was deceived into thinking a method is what saved me and I just hadn’t gotten it right, or figured it out yet.
Other false methods that are taught are as follows: breaking a generational curse will restore health and finances, tithing will ensure prosperity, praying in tongues will ensure a breakthrough, praying the prayer of Jabez will enlarge your camp, spiritual mapping will identify strongholds, spiritual warfare will bind demons, aligning oneself under an open heaven will bring revival….and the list goes on.
There are all sorts of catch phrases and marketing ploys meant to bring fame and fortune to false teachers, yet they are the same tired and false teachings.
Revivals are the worst. Over and over we hear about manufactured revivals.
Let me tell you something if you don’t already know about it.
You can’t schedule a revival at a certain location at a certain time. The Holy Spirit doesn’t have a calendar that you can pencil in your date and location.
Deceivers of Methods emphasize what you must do, instead of what Christ has accomplished for us.
4. Deceivers Minimize the cost of following Christ.
Many deceivers will not preach on sin because it is not popular.
Their goal is to get you excited, get you energetic, get you engaged.
If preaching talks about the great sacrifices that are needed, the war that must be waged with our flesh, and
The difficult road that must be traveled, many will not want to sign up for this.
One of my favorite books is the Pilgrim’s Progress.
It was written by Puritan John Bunyan and is the second best selling book of all time behind the Bible.
In this book the main character, Christian, is on a journey and deals with many trials and tribulations.
While many traveling partners turn back due to the difficulty, or point him to an easier direction, Christian struggles to stay on course.
The Christian life will be one of great struggle, heartache, and pain.
Much will be lost, but much more will be gained.
What we sacrifice on earth will pail in comparison to what we will gain in Christ.
If the teacher is making it seem like we can have heaven on earth, then you must run from this wicked teaching.
If we can make heaven on earth, we already would have, but the very fact that we can’t, shows us our need of one who can.
The trials and tribulations points us away from ourselves and points us to the One to come.
The cost will be high, but the reward will be great.
If you are hearing a gospel that does not offend the carnal flesh, then you are not hearing the true Gospel.
The true Gospel maximizes our sin and our rebellion, while also offering the only solution to our sin and rebellion, Jesus.
5. Deceivers Misinterpret the kingdom of God
Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world, but some teachings make the kingdom all about this world.
Bethel church in Redding California is famous for this type of false teaching.
They teach the church will supposedly conquer the seven mountains of society: religion, education, business, family, government, arts, and media.
Jesus contradicted this false notion:
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
We will not be able to bring heaven to earth as I mentioned already.
Only Jesus can accomplish and will accomplish this on His second coming.
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
In once sense the kingdom of God is here and in that since we are to participate in the continual bringing forth God’s plan.
Yet, in another since, God’s perfect kingdom will not be realized on this earth and is still to come.
Those in the New Apostolic Reformation or NAR are always looking for visible signs, and they do all that they can to influence society.
Bringing heaven to earth means conditions on earth should match heaven – no sin, sickness, or suffering in heaven.
Heaven will come to earth when Christ returns, not before. God is building his church, not earthly kingdoms.
6. Deceivers Misapply promises God made to Israel
The core of this false teaching comes in what is known as descriptive versus prescriptive texts.
It is a misunderstanding of how the Bible should be read and taught.
A descriptive passage is telling us about what happened. It is not a command for us to follow, just telling us that this happened.
A prescriptive passage is telling us what we should do. A command for us to follow and adhere to.
Deceivers will take promises that are made to Israel and apply them to us.
Israel was under the law and we are under grace.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
We are no longer under the law.
The law was meant to show us we could not achieve it, and thus we do not need law, but we need grace.
Grace is found in Jesus and Jesus alone.
Now on the flip side we can unhinge ourself from the Old Testament, exact words used by famous pastor Andy Stanley
And if we do this we are going wrong as well.
The Old Testament lays the foundation and affirms that Jesus is the promised Messiah.
The Old Testament gives us confidence in the promises and purposes of God.
Thus we must do neither claim the promises of Israel to us, nor should we just remove the Old Testament as if it doesn’t matter.
Both of these are grave errors that lead the believer astray.
7. Deceivers Marginalize the word of God
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Deceivers will point to their own intellect, their own ideas, their own concepts, and felt desires to bring forth “their” truth.
Sure, they will begin with a bible verse, or even sprinkle verses in here and there, but they are giving you their thoughts,
instead of giving you an exposition of what the Bible says.
They become the standard of truth themselves, and use the Bible to support their ideas, instead of letting the bible form their understanding.
False teachers often shield themselves by being great story tellers.
They captivate and amaze by sharing incredible and fascinating stories that tug on the heart strings and mesmerize the mind.
It is not that sharing a story or an illustration is wrong, as long as it is illuminating the Bible and bringing clarity to Scripture, these are good things.
But, many times a person will bring forth story after story and it is all about getting you to laugh or cry and play on your emotions.
It makes you elevate the speaker above the Creator.
You leave with the same feeling and emotion that you would leaving a comedy club, not the feeling and emotion of coming face to face with God.
If you are left talking about how great the speaker is instead of amazed at how incredible our God is......I think you get my point.
It isn’t just clever stories or funny one liners that steal the spotlight that are dangerous, many times extrabiblical ideas are shared.
If someone claims to have a new revelation from God and it didn’t come from exegeting the biblical text, then reject.
If someone claims to have heard a message from God, and they do not back it up with chapter & verse, then avoid.
If someone claims that God is doing a new thing in this day in age that isn’t the continuation of His revealed plan, then run.
Sermons should point you to how great Jesus is, not how great the speaker is.
If someone is preaching from a paraphrase Bible, or a false translation, then these too should be avoided.
While it isn’t wrong to read from the NLT or The Message Bible to get another take on a Scripture you are studying,
these are paraphrases of the Bible and not the actual Bible.
It is taking the concept that is being spoken about and re-writing it so that the concept is shared.
However, we should not get theology or our understanding of God through a paraphrase of the Bible.
One more point I want to share is to be aware of false translations.
The Passion Translation or the New World Translation are false translations of the Bible and insert concepts and words to fit a particular belief system.
It is taking a belief system and inserting it into the Bible instead of creating your belief system from the Bible.
8. Deceivers Magnify experiences.
We have a void inside of us that only the Word of God can satisfy.
However, when the teacher brings forth something other than God’s Word, then it will be a cheap counterfeit that cannot satisfy or last.
Much of todays cultural Christianity is based on Entertainment instead of Worship and based on experiences instead of God’s Word.
Many Churches are not searching God’s Word to see what God wants, but instead searching culture to see what unbelievers want.
Therefore church becomes more about the person than it becomes about God.
This leads to experiences becoming King instead of Jesus.
Many church services look more like pagan mysticism than anything Christian.
Many worship services emulate a rock concert and cheapens the Spirit by crediting the same feeling we get singing Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi, to the same feeling we get singing “Insert whatever modern worship song here.”
If you get the same feeling at a rock concert as a church service, then I can assure that isn’t the Holy Spirit.
Whether it is putting gold dusts in air vents and claiming it is the Holy Spirit as they did at Bethel in California,
or the latest self proclaimed apostle sharing his latest trip to heaven.
These Charlatans prey on the naive and believers who have not been properly discipled to build their fame and fortune.
What we must watch for is teachings that are based on experiences and encounters with God, angels, or visions, instead of teachings based on and saturated in God’s Word.
Is the experience at the center of the gathering or is seeking to worship God as He has prescribed the center of the gathering?
9. Deceivers Monetize the Gospel
You knew this one would be coming as it is at the heart of what is called the Prosperity Gospel.
The heart of what most TV preachers subscribe to in order to become wealthy, enjoy lavish lifestyles, buy new jets, and prey on the poor.
This sort of false teaching has also found its way into many churches where the pastor wants to enjoy the same riches as the evangelist.
They twist scripture and use it to fool the well meaning believer into giving to their ministry.
They will use phrases like “planting a seed” and every dollar you give God will give you 30, 60, and 100 fold.
This is not biblical and it completely misuses the parable that God was speaking about sowing and reaping.
Anyone that tells you that you are guaranteed financial success because you give to a ministry is lying to you.
Anyone one that tells you that you need to give a certain amount, is lying to you.
Televangelists famously tell you that you need to sow a $1000.00 seed.
What you need to do is change the channel.
They will claim that it is God’s will to financially prosper all believers, but this too, is lying.
What is happening is that these decievers are praying on your sinful nature, the love of money, to make it seem like it is ok as long as you are loving money from God.
We are called to give and we are called to pool our resources together in order to impact this world of the Kingdom of God.
Here we are specifically called to impact this area through outreaches, sound teaching, and evangelism.
But, we do this to honor and glorify God, not so that we can get rich, get healed, or get a Bentley.
Scripture tells us that we are to support those who labor to preach and teach the Gospel and we are called to give generously.
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
So we give for the purpose of the Kingdom, but giving to false teachers is not furthering the Kingdom but furthering lies and deception.
We must guard our hearts and our wallet against these people.
Lastly lets look at our 10th and final point.
10. Deceivers Modernize the gospel
In order to make the gospel easier to hear and easier to embrace, deceivers and false teachers will change the message to fit today’s time.
Nobody wants to be called a sinner, so let’s exchange the word sin, for a mistake, or a slip up.
We are deep down really good people who do really good things, but occasionally we could have made a better decision.
Jesus is there to help us make better decisions and live a better life.
A politically correct Gospel that offends no one, and saves no one as well.
A Jesus that is a best buddy where God affirms and celebrates everything that you affirm and celebrate.
God is on your team and doesn’t require you to be on His team.
That is a modernized Gospel that false teachers pedal in order to get you excited and tuned in.
Some that modernize the Gospel take the latest fad and make sure that God is cool with it, too.
To modernize the Gospel we don’t need an old book that is out dated and out of touch.
To modernize the Gospel we don’t need deep theological songs when a catchy hook repeated 40 times can do the trick.
To modernize the Gospel we don’t need to elevate the preaching of God’s Word, we just need 15 minute Ted Talks.
A modern man in a modern age needs a modern Gospel and the Gospel of your grand parents doesn’t need to be your Gospel.
Yet, there is only one Gospel that Saves.
This Gospel that speaks to the greatness of God and compares you to God’s holiness.
In light of God’s holiness we see how far we have fallen and how sinful we really are.
We discover that there is no amount of good works or good deeds that could ever offset the rebellion against God.
Thus we need a Savior and it is a Savior that our Father provides us in His Son, Jesus, and only in His Son, Jesus.
Jesus then takes our sin upon Himself and then takes on the full wrath of God upon the cross to pay the due penalty of our sin.
Jesus exchanges our sin with His righteousness and gives us a right standing before God by making us children of God.
Jesus is the Gospel, and the Good News, that takes us from enemies to family.
This is why we then embrace this incredible gift of grace and after receiving the gift of faith in order to believe....
We place this gift of faith upon the only one who is worth of this faith and that is Jesus.
This is the true Gospel and the true hope that we have.
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What we must understand is that there will be all sorts of people over the course of your life that will bring you different teachings.
But, there is one book that will make sure that we are not deceived and not led astray.
God’s Word will see to this if you make seeking God’s will your priority.
Let’s look at verse 8
Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.
Now John moves from a warning in verse 7 to a command in verse 8.
John tells us to watch ourselves.
This is what we must do, we must watch ourselves and watch what we bring to our eyes and ears.
We must be diligent to not only protect ourselves from false teachings but protect those we care about, especially our children.
Verse 8 is our call to action and verse 8 is our application in light of false teachers.
We must watch ourselves.
How do we watch ourselves?
3 Ways: First by testing everything to the word of God.
Second, by praying and asking God to illuminate the truth and understanding of God’s Word, so that you can test it.
Thirdly, by discussing doctrines and concepts with your elders, Brad and myself, and with other mature and sound believers.
This will help to make sure you understand correctly.
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
After Paul preached the Gospel to them, they still tested Paul’s words to make sure that what he shared lined us with Scripture.
They were commended for doing so and called noble for doing this.
We too, must be willing to do this very thing if we will be noble and righteous in our pursuits of God and His wisdom.
Let me close with this and this may shock you, but my hope is that it really brings home the point of today.
I’d rather my kids listen to top 40 music hits on spotify than the Z88.3 on the radio.
At least the Top 40 music my kids know how to test it and can see how it compares to God’s Word.
Christian music these days sounds good, but the theology is often weak and fluffy at best and wrong at worse.
I’ve heard more and more completely blasphemous songs played on the Z to the point that I no longer listen to it.
We must protect ourselves and especially our children from being deceived.
When it comes to secular music, it isn’t trying to teach us about God, and my kids can quickly and easily point out the flaws and the issues with it.
Now, if your kids do not see the folly in secular music and will be influenced by it, don’t let them listen to it either.
I’m not saying we should all go listen to top 40 music. What I’m saying is that I understand and filter it through my theology.
Christian music can be much more difficult to pick out the errors and heresy because it sounds “Christian”
I’d rather our family watch secular movies and TV shows than many Christian movies and TV shows.
Now, not all, but many are deceptive.
There are some great youtube channels and fantastic TV being created for believers that I would love to share with you all.
So come and ask me and I can make a list to post for everyone.
But, the great majority of Christian movies and Christian TV are awful theologically, and awful acting if we are honest with ourselves.
Again, I’m not saying let’s all run out and become obsessed with the latest music and tv series and begin binge watching.
I’m saying that it is much easier for us to process right and wrong and good and bad when it isn’t trying to deceive us.
We know it is not of God and is folly.
Versus the ones that are actively trying to deceive us.
How does Love and Truth play out with the Deceiver and the False Teacher?
We love, not by loving the deceiver, but by loving the believer more than the deceiver.
To love the believer is to warn the believer about the truth in compassion with the lies.
We do not love the deceiver but warn against the deceiver.
We do not try to convince the deceiver but yell to all believers to run from them and mark them to avoid.
This is how we engage with Love and Truth that John is telling us.
This is why we must be about understanding truth, and the more we understand the truth, the easier it will be to pick out the lies.
Once we can pick out the lies, then it will be much easier to mark and avoid.
May God grant us this wisdom and determination for His truth. Amen? Let us pray.