Watch Out!

2 John 7-11

2 John 7-11

Back when we started our look into John’s epistles I told you that we would have 8 sermons out of 1 John and I did pretty good I think I kept it to 13. I also told you that there would probably be 3 each out of 2 John and 3 John. Well today we will have our third and final sermon in this series out of 2 John; you should applaud or amen that I have kept to my schedule in this letter; I have indeed injured my shoulder patting myself on the back. Today we will be looking at 2 John 7-11. We already touched on the verses 12 and 13 in the first sermon so we will not be looking at them today.

Because the letter is only 13 verses we will go ahead and read it in its entirety. Let’s pray then we will read 2 John 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, 2 because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: 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. 4 I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received a commandment from the Father. 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. 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. 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. 9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. 12 Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full. 13 The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.[1]

Let me go back and do a little review concerning this letter of John’s. John wrote this letter because of false teacher who had come and led many astray; not to confront the false teachers but to encourage and instruct the church (elect lady and her children) concerning the truth and their response to it. He encouraged them in that they knew the truth and the truth abided in them and because of that grace, mercy and peace from the Father and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ would be with them. Last week we talked about how the truth and love worked hand in hand in that love is defined by the fact that they walk according to the commandments of God that they received from the beginning; love one another as Christ has loved them.

Now we come to verse 7 and John gives us the reason we need to know the truth and walk in love for one another. For many deceivers have gone out into the world. We need to make sure we understand that truth, what we know, what we understand and believe has an opponent and that opponent is deception. The only way to avoid falling prey to the deceiver is to walk in the truth and hold one another to the truth. In 1 John we found out that many people had been led to believe the false teaching that Jesus did not come in the flesh but only appeared to be in the flesh and they had gone out from them into the world to spread that deception. These are the deceivers and antichrists of 1 John and here he says that this teaching is the deceiver and an antichrist. Not just the people but the doctrine, the teaching itself is an antichrist and deceiver. These people who had gone out into the world had learned something new, they had more information than the others and wanted to “share it with them”. I remember back many years ago when we lived in Itasca, Texas there was a couple we went to church with. They were great people, both of them were nurses and very bright. But they left our congregation and started going to a word of faith, prosperity gospel church and came back and informed everyone that there was something new that we were missing, there was more than just Jesus crucified and risen, there was all kinds of emotional excitement that we could all have. They were not received well and left our congregation completely. I am still friends with them on Facebook though. What I remember most is their excitement about finding something new, something more. That is what John has been warning about. John had covered in 1 John the importance of Jesus coming in the flesh: 1 John 1:7 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.[2] If He did not come in the flesh and shed His blood there would be no cleansing from sin. 1 John 2:2 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.[3] He is the propitiation for our sin. 1 John 3:5 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.[4] He takes our sin away because in Him is no sin; He came in the flesh to live the life of perfect obedience we could not life. And 1 John 4:10 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.[5] God the Father loves us and sent God the Son to be our substitute. That is the importance of Jesus coming in the flesh and anyone that tells you anything else is a deceiver and antichrist: “He came to be a good teacher”. “He came to make you happy”. “He came to make you healthy”. “He came to make you wealthy”. All of these are lies and deception to draw you away from the person of Jesus Christ to focus your attention on what you get rather than to fall in love with the One who gave you life itself. That does not mean He was not a good teacher and that you will not be happy or that some of you may be healthy or wealthy. But that is not the reason He came. The only way to avoid falling prey to the deceiver and antichrist is to walk in the truth and hold one another to the truth.

Because of that John gives the church a very stern warning. “Look out for yourselves!” is what he says in verse 8. These are the same Greek words used to record Jesus’ words in Mark 13:23 where Jesus is warning against the false teacher in that Gospel’s version of the Olivet Discourse. 23 But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.[6] There are several things we need to look at in this warning because it is not without difficulty. First off if you are reading verse 8 in any translation other than the KJV or the NKJV you will see that those translations use the word “you” instead of “we”. We know that the KJV and the NKJV are notorious for using less than the best manuscripts (Textus Receptus) where the ESV, NASB, CSB and even the NIV use older manuscripts and those manuscripts for the most part use the Greek word of “you”. However even some of those older manuscripts are in disagreement. So instead of going into the details of this (which interests me when I am studying but does not translate well into preaching) I am going to tell you what I believe John is saying overall in this warning. Please feel free to study the passage on your own. Last week in verse 5 John included Himself by using the word “we” when he said; “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.” John is holding himself to the same standard as the rest of the church and I believe that is what he is doing here in verse 8. He is speaking to the church he is writing to, he is speaking to you and me, and he is speaking to himself. First he puts it in the negative: “that we do not lose those things we worked for,” then he says it again in the positive: “but that we receive a full reward.” We do not want to lose what we have worked for – we want our full reward, we want to hear “Well done my good and faithful servant.” One more thing before we move on and this is very important. When you first heard this read, as you were reading along what did you think the “full reward” was talking about? Let me just cut to the chase here; the full reward John is talking about is not salvation. The word for “reward” is a word that is used to convey the idea of payment or wages. It is used in Matthew 20:8 where Jesus said that He came to be a “ransom for many”. It is used in John 4:36 speaking about workers who reap receive wages and in James 5:4 talking about laborers wages, what they earned for working. But we know that salvation is not something that we earn, there is no payment due us that would amount to repentance, and the removal of sin. There is no amount of service that would earn us eternal life in the presence of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Salvation is a gift of grace not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9) So if it is not salvation John is talking about then what is it? I’m not going to spend too much time here but what John is talking about in saying “full reward” is the rewards we receive in heaven for the good works that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in (Ephesians 2:10). We could look at several passages if we wanted to take a lot of time on this but the point is not what the rewards are but that there are rewards to be had that we do not want to lose so let me read to you just one passage then we will move on. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.[7] Because there are deceivers and antichrists out in the world who desire to lead us astray then we must look out for ourselves or be on the alert because we do not want to lose what we’ve worked for by building on a foundation other than Jesus.

Verse 9 is a pivotal verse in this passage. So far John has talked about false teachers and how to avoid falling prey to them and now in verse 9 he tells us the theological reason. Before we read this verse remember that the heresy that is being taught is that Jesus did not really come in the flesh, he just appeared to come in the flesh so therefore He could not have died to be our substitutionary atonement. Let me say this very quickly; without Christ as our atonement there is no Christianity, there is no salvation and you and I are still dead in our sin. Now let me read verse 9: 9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. Just like in verse 8 John makes the statement twice, first negatively: Whoever transgresses and does not abide in Christ does not have God. Then he states the same thing positively: He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. Before I explain this any further let me say that I learned something this week (like that is new). I have always thought that the word “transgress” was just another way to say “break” or “disregard” its sin right? But the word itself means much more than that. Our English word comes from Latin which means to “step past” and the Greek word used (I’m not going to try to pronounce it) translates almost exactly. It means to pass by without regard or to go ahead of something. Literally what John is saying is anyone who moves ahead of or past the doctrine of Christ does not have God. Remember my story about my friends? They had moved ahead of the doctrine of Christ (Christ crucified as our substitute and risen as our guarantee) to the belief that they would receive what they wanted in essence making themselves the object of worship and Jesus a means to an end. We must not run ahead of where God speaks as it relates to the doctrine of Christ. The Son is the revelation of the Father (John 1:18; 14:7, 9; 1 John 5:20) and the Son is the only way to the Father (John 14:6). This makes Him our prophet and our priest. He who acknowledges the Son possess the Father and he who denies the Son loses the Father. Moving past Christ is not progress, it is apostasy. This is as true today as it was in the first century. Many people want God without Jesus Christ. They say they believe in God, but see no necessity for Jesus. Or they regard other religions as alternative roads to God. We must resist those lies. In this we must look to ourselves, seeking to ‘continue’ in the doctrine of Christ, not to ‘advance’ beyond it.

This brings us to verses 10 and 11: 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. How did we get from; “Love one another, walk according to His commandments, and His commandment is to love one another as Christ has loved you” to “If they don’t abide in the doctrine of Christ don’t even let them in the house”? Well I’m glad you asked because I’m here to tell you. First off when John says “anyone” he is talking about the deceivers and the antichrists, those who have the purpose of teaching false doctrine; of trying to move you ahead of the doctrine of Christ. In verse 11 he says that you don’t let them in because their deeds are evil; their desire is to do evil. Second let me remind you that John is not talking about showing hospitality to someone in your own home. Scripture is clear that we are to be hospitable to people even if they are not believers. But John is not talking about individuals in their households; he is talking about a church. Even churches are to welcome non-believers into the congregation as visitors in the hope that they may hear the gospel which is the power of God for salvation. We are even to welcome heretics into the congregation as visitors with the same hope. But they must not be welcomed as teachers or preachers. The church must be open to those who are in error. But the pulpit must be closed to them. They cannot be welcomed or greeted in an official way that regards them as teachers of the Word of God. Again the church must be open to the lost but the pulpit must be closed to them and the reason is their purpose or their intention is evil and if we welcome the heretic as a teacher of the Word then we share in his or her evil.

Let me wrap this up and go home and live it out. First, truth has an opponent and it is deception and the only way not to fall prey to deception is to know and abide in the truth. We must be on the alert because there are those who would lead us astray and we do not want to lose the rewards that Christ has called us to and has for us in heaven. Those who do not abide in the doctrine of Christ do not have the Father but those who do abide in the doctrine of Christ have the Father and the Son. We must continue to be on the alert and not allow false teachers into the congregation. Welcome the lost into your home and to church as visitors but never never into the pulpit as a teacher of the Word of God because if you do you share in their evil.

Regardless of how sincere someone sounds, or how well he or she can stir your emotions, or how much Scripture they may quote always compare their words with who Christ is. Only if they confess that Jesus came in the flesh, shed His blood to cleanse us of our sin, that He is our propitiation, that He takes our sin away as the perfect sinless sacrifice, and that God the Father sent Him as our substitute, and that He died and rose again, only then do you give them ear and share in their work because that is the truth, that is the foundation on which we build. Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (2 Jn 1–13). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 1:6–7). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 2:1–2). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[4] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 3:5). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[5] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Jn 4:10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[6] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mk 13:23). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[7] The New King James Version. (1982). (1 Co 3:10–15). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.