A Supreme Command
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning!
Please keep your Bibles open to the book of 2 John. I wanted to continue the pattern of preaching through a book verse by verse - and as we finished up the book of Nehemiah last week and the fact that today will be my last week in the pulpit as the pastor, I essentially had one week’s worth of an opportunity to cover a selection of text in its entirety. That really left me with only four options:
Philemon
2 John
3 John
Jude
As I read through each of these books, I prayed that the Lord would guide and point out what was the most important for the family at Sprague Community Church to hear. A big part of the reason for selecting 2 John is because of the thrust of this letter, mixed with the fact that this will also serve as my final appeal to you as your pastor.
The thrust of 2 John is simple: Faithful churches continue walking in truth, love, and discernment—no matter who leads them or what season they face. My hope and prayer for all of us is that, no matter what the future may hold, is that we all proceed from this point walking in truth, love and discernment.
The apostle John wrote this short letter near the end of his ministry. He has seen churches planted, leaders come and go, and challenges arise. And his message is beautifully simple:
Keep walking. He’s not advocating a sprint, striving for perfection or theological legalism - just a faithful walk with Jesus.
His main point - a point that I want to reiterate with you today is that:
Faithful churches continue walking in truth, love, and discernment—no matter who leads them or what season they face.
Keep Walking In Truth (1-4)
Keep Walking In Love (5-6)
Keep Waling In Discernment (7-11)
Keep Walking in Truth (vv. 1–4)
Keep Walking in Truth (vv. 1–4)
Read with me in:
1 The elder: To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not only I, but also all who know the truth—
2 because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever.
3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4 I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father.
John begins this letter with a brief introduction and celebration. It is interesting how it is commonly translated as “The Elder…” when it could also be translated as, “The Old Man…” John doesn’t give his name in this letter or in 3rd John, but his unique voice as a writer has convinced the church since the first and second centuries that John, son of Zebede, the same author as the gospel of John, is the same author. On top of that, there are some early church fathers who linked these letters to John as well.
Throughout this letter, it is clear that it isn’t the same kind of theological treatise as 1 John or his Gospel, but it is rather a personal letter - addressed to “The elect lady and her children…” We aren’t exactly sure who the specific recipient was, but the message he gives her is applicable to all Christians, and serves as a great reminder of walking in the truth.
One of the most widely held theories is that “the elect lady” is a church, and “her children” are the believers at that church. It makes sense, especially considering verse 13 where John says, “The children of your elect sister send you greetings…” The language would be consistent with saying something to the effect of, “Those at the church I am at now send greetings…” There are still those who believe he is speaking to an individual family, which is fine - it fits well with a plain reading of the text, but it is clear from the content of the letter that it is for the church.
This first section, specifically verses 1-3, serve as an formal introduction that is very characteristic of letters from the culture of this era. But after the formalities, he immediately expresses his joy. He rejoices—not in programs, buildings, or numbers—but in people who are walking in truth.
“Walking” implies a repetitive consistency, movement with intention toward a specific destination - perseverance in the midst of trials and difficulties, and daily faithfulness. All of these things are related to the truth.
Truth here includes both: Right belief, Right living. In theological terms, orthodoxy and orthopraxy - right belief and right practice. I have often said that any given passage of Scripture has one valid interpretation - that which the author intended to convey. However, just because a Scripture has one meaning, doesn’t mean it’s somehow limited in it’s impact - something can have one valid interpretation and thousands of valid applications. One of the reasons we need to be so careful in our interpretation of Scripture is because wrong interpretation leads to wrong application or misapplication.
My wife and I recently tried to watch the movie 12 Years a Slave. I say we tried because it was so difficult to watch that we honestly didn’t make it through. What struck me was one of the slave owners preaching to his slaves that the Bible warned slaves of getting whipped if they didn’t act in accordance to their master’s will. He made the mistake of interpreting himself as their master instead of the Lord being their master - thereby using the Scripture to justify his harsh mistreatment of them. Bad interpretation leads to bad application.
In his greeting, John greets the elect lady with grace, mercy and peace and love from God the Father. He rejoices because some of the lady’s children are walking in the truth, in keeping with a command they received from God the Father. A pastor knows no greater joy than knowing those in his flock are walking according to the truth. It isn’t out of pride or ego, but simply knowing that God is being honored by the people he is working with is a great source of encouragement and vitalization for him.
Notice what John didn’t say though - at no point did John say that our goal is perfection - it is walking in the truth! He indirectly points out a serious aspect of Christian maturity that I want each of you to think about and think about often: Christian maturity is not perfection - it is persistence. Christian maturity is not perfection - it is persistence.
Oswald Chambers said this:
The life of faith is not a life of mounting up with wings, but a life of walking and not fainting.
Oswald Chambers
I bet a lot of us would say that we have faced trials, seasons, scenarios where we have felt faint - almost like we have been on a highway for a long time and we are itching to see our exit. I believe there are times when we feel more faint than others - but John’s writing in our passage today reminds us of the importance of walking in the truth. It is something to rejoice in! We should find joy when we are walking in the truth and when others in the church are walking in the truth as well.
The truth of God exists outside of ourselves - it is not some kind of subjective feeling that may change from day to day depending on how we feel, but is stored for us forever in Sacred Scripture. The truth is there for us when we don’t have the strength to stand on our own for what is right. The truth is there for us when our feelings cloud our judgment. There truth is there for us when the world would tell us the message of the gospel is simply too offensive for the world we live in today.
John says that he rejoices at this and reiterates it in a following letter when he says,
4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in truth.
There is a consistency that walking in the truth brings to a person’s life - and I believe that steadiness and consistency is one of the rewards of walking in the truth that we should all be striving for.
1 How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!
2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
If we go back to the book of Nehemiah and remember what he was trying to build with the people after the wall was completed, we see that churches remain strong not by dramatic moments, but by daily faithfulness and intentionally walking in the truth of God’s Word. The Israelites responded to God’s Word with obedience at first and this brought about tremendous celebration. But that celebration wained and turned into a testimony against them as they petered out and weren’t intentionally walking in the truth.
Keep walking in truth. Don’t let anything steer you away from God’s word!
7 Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.
8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
God promised Joshua He’d be with him wherever he went, but urged him to be in the Word.
Faithful churches continue walking in truth, love, and discernment—no matter who leads them or what season they face.
Keep Walking in Love (vv. 5–6)
Keep Walking in Love (vv. 5–6)
5 So now I ask you, dear lady—not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
6 This is love: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in love.
Here, John transitions from an emphasis in walking in truth to obeying the long-standing command that we love one another.
We would do well here to remember Jesus’ response to the Pharisee’s testing of Him when He says this:
35 And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him:
36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”
37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38 This is the greatest and most important command.
39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
It is reminiscent of what the American evangelist Jonathan Edwards once said:
The more a true saint loves God with a truly gracious love, the more he desires to love Him, and the more miserable he is at his lack of love to Him.
Jonathan Edwards (American Evangelical Preacher)
The more we love God, the more we see our lack of love for Him. I see my sin most when I love the Lord. I see His grace most when I love the Lord.
Notice though how in verse 6, John defines what love is so that we can better understand both what he means and how we can apply it?
Love is obedience to God’s commands. It’s not sentiment, personality or preference - it’s obedience. Love is choosing to treat one another according to God’s will. Does God’s will make room for us to gossip about one another? No! So refusing to gossip about another person is a way that we can love them. Does God’s Word leave room for us to hold a grudge against others? No! So forgiving one another and being gracious is a way that we show God and our brothers and sisters in Christ love!
Remember what Jesus said about the testimony that love should have in the church:
34 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Love identifies us as Jesus’ disciples! Love binds us all together!
14 Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
Jesus prayed fervorantly that the church would be unified as He and the Father were unified. Paul says that love is the bond of unity! We can’t be united the way Jesus wants us to be if we don’t have a real and genuine love for one another.
10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.
This is the one I struggle with: Take the lead in honoring one another. In other words - take the initiative to love others - don’t be passive in your love, but take the lead and do what is right. If I am hurt by someone, I will admit, I don’t do well in this area. It is easier for me to wait for them to apologize than to seek them out and clear the air. That’s not right! Scripture tells me that if there is something inhibiting my relationship with someone else, that I should be the one to make the effort to get things set right. There are situations I’m sure we’ve all encountered where loving another person well means giving them their space, but for the most part, we should be taking an active role in loving others - not just a passive one.
This is going to come in really handy right now in the life of the church. Times of transition can be really hard, but one thing must remain constant:
Love for one another. This is the glue that holds a church together.
Let’s be perfectly clear though: A church can survive hardship and change easily - but make no mistake: a church cannot thrive without love.
I love this thought from C.S. Lewis:
Do not waste your time bothering about whether you love your neighbor; act as if you did … When you are behaving as if you love someone, you will presently come to love him.
C. S. Lewis
Keep walking in love.
Faithful churches continue walking in truth, love, and discernment—no matter who leads them or what season they face.
Keep Walking in Discernment (vv. 7–11)
Keep Walking in Discernment (vv. 7–11)
7 Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
8 Watch yourselves so that you don’t lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.
9 Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home, and do not greet him;
11 for the one who greets him shares in his evil works.
This is where John goes into the realm of “why…” Why should the church continue to walk in truth? To walk in love? to walk in discernment? Because - many deceivers have gone out into the world - watch yourselves that you don’t lose what we’ve worked for… He is giving the elect lady and her children a warning - “watch yourselves…” from verse 8.
See - False teachers were spreading dangerous ideas about Christ, so he tells the church: to “Watch yourselves.” (v. 8) Discernment means Knowing truth, recognizing error, protecting the gospel and remaining faithful. It is not paranoia - it is spiritual responsibility.
As leadership in Sprague Community Church changes, the church must remain anchored in the Word. Spiritual growth is not dependent on who is in the pulpit! It is not a matter of personalities, or preferences - most certainly not what is trendy either.
Truth must remain the foundation.
In those regards, I have a few thoughts for you.
Acts 20:28–31 — the flock of God must be guarded and protected.
28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.
29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.
31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.
2 Timothy 4:3–4 — Sound doctrine matters - it is not cruel or divisive to be precise in what we believe - but there is a time and place to go into deeper levels of God’s revelation, but it is important to get the doctrine of Scripture correct.
3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.
4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.
Jude 3 — We must all contend for the faith.
3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.
As we saw in the book of Nehemiah, faithful churches do not drift accidentally - it is a result of sin and neglect. Churches must be intentional to stay grounded. As our time together draws to an end, my charge to you: Keep walking in discernment.
Faithful churches continue walking in truth, love, and discernment—no matter who leads them or what season they face.
Conclusion
Conclusion
John ends his letter relationally, expressing his desire for continued fellowship and joy.
12 Though I have many things to write to you, I don’t want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete.
13 The children of your elect sister send you greetings.
My prayer for Sprague Community Church is simple:
That you would Keep walking in truth. Cling to God’s Word with everything you have. Don’t let anyone or anything take your gaze off the Lord - and let Him speak for Himself through the means He’s already chosen - His Word. People will try to tell you that God’s word is hateful, irrelevant, incompatible with sensible living - IGNORE them! God’s Word gives you a firm foundation to stand on that cannot be shaken by the world. Anything the world may try to throw at you - answer them with Scripture! Hide His word away in your heart so He can bring it to your mind when you’re going through times of trouble and rely on Him for guidance through it!
That you would Keep walking in love. Remember that love is a verb - an action you take that does not rely on your feelings or mood - you have a choice to love others even when it costs you something. To love another person well starts with loving the Lord well and bringing your love for Him to bear on your relationships with other people. Loving God well will translate to loving people well - but if you don’t love God, your love for other people will be meaningless.
That you would Keep walking in discernment. Everything we face gives up the opportunity to make a choice - either in how we respond to something or how we think about something. If Sprague Community Church focuses on what pleases the Lord and pursues that with all her heart, mind, soul and strength, the Lord will guide you. Remember the emphasis in Scripture on acting wisely - wisdom is informed by the Word and reinforced through bold obedience and trust in the Lord.
Faithful churches continue walking in truth, love, and discernment through every season of change - no matter what those changes may look like.
Consider the words of the French reformer, John Calvin, who said…
Whatever ability a faithful Christian may possess, he ought to possess it for his fellow believers, and he ought to make his own interest subservient to the wellbeing of the church in all sincerity.
John Calvin (French Reformer)
Let’s pray.
