And Remain in Truth

Introduction

Well Good morning again everyone! Today is a special day as we begin the third sermon in this series. This is officially the most consecutive Sunday’s that I have preached! In the past, the most I’ve preached in a row is two Sundays when I closed out one of our sermon series and then opened up the next sermon series. So thank you all so much for not only allowing me to share, but also for being so encouraging to me as I’m preaching! It truly means a lot.

As we continue on this book, I hope that you have been able to see how cool this short postcard epistle is and how rich in wisdom and encouragement it is for us today. The Apostle John is writing to a local church congregation to remind them and encourage them to continue to walk in the truth, obey the commandments, love one another, and to guard the teachings of Christ so that they would not be deceived. For those of us who have been saved by the blood of Christ on the cross, when he died for our sins and rose from the grave three days later conquering death and granting new life for those who would believe, we have the same encouragement.

Over the past couple of weeks, I hope that I have done well to show you how The Elect are those who remain in obedience to walk in truth and love. We can have confidence in our salvation because it is not something that we can work for, rather it is a free gift from Jesus. And it is out of that free gift that we are able to then remain in obedience to Jesus’ commands. We can abide in Christ, as John writes in his account to the life of Jesus, and through that abiding, we can then allow our beliefs in Jesus to dictate our behavior as followers of Jesus.

Last weeks sermon through verses 4-6 dealt with how our right belief in Jesus as the truth impacts how we walk in love. This weeks passage, verses 7-11 gives us a more specific exhortation to hold onto a key doctrine of our faith and to not have anything to do with those who deny this doctrine. John is turning his attention from true believers to the false teachers. That is why I’ve titled this sermon “And Remain in Truth.”

Let’s read 2 John 7-11

2 John 7–11 CSB

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. Watch yourselves so that you don’t lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward. 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. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home, and do not greet him; for the one who greets him shares in his evil works.

It may seem weird to our modern ears to hear of just how much love we should have for other people one week, and then the next week talk about how we shouldn’t have anything to do with certain people. We are supposed to walk in truth and love, we are supposed to make the choice to deeply love others, regardless of whether or not we feel like we want to love,. And yet, we’re told to not even greet deceivers. You may be thinking, that doesn’t seem very loving. In order to understand this clearly We must ask ourselves, “What is the context of John’s writing this?” It is that context that will clarify the eternal truths of the passage and help us to correctly apply those truths to our own context today.

To begin, I want you to imagine going to a new city and not knowing where you were going to stay. For some of you, I’ve just described a nightmare situation. Recently, I was talking to my brother-in-laws about his most recent trip that he took with some of his college friends and this is exactly what happened. Brian said that they were pulling into Boise and needed a place to stay and so they were texting all of their connections. They ended up getting a place to stay through a connection that Brian had made only recently when he met some people through his church network Resonate. Thank God for brothers and sisters in the faith!

For many of us, this is not how we plan a trip. Once we decide on a location to visit, the very next question is “where are we going to stay?” You may look up some AirBnB’s or some VRBO’s. Maybe you check out different B&B’s or a for the safe option, you look up a La Quinta or Hampton Inn, maybe a Motel 6. The places for the modern day travel to stay seem endless. And if you’re Chris Berry or maybe like him, you love the planning process.

Now with the exception of visiting family, it is very unlikely that while planning a trip you think to yourself, “I’ll just find someone to stay with when I get there!” It maybe fine for a bunch of cool adventurous college students, but for many of us, that wouldn’t fly!

Yet Brian’s recent trip is more in line with what our early church brothers and sisters would have experienced. While travelling, there weren’t hotels, or motels, nor a holiday inn for them. They would have to find brothers and sisters in the faith or people of peace, as Luke talks about, who would open up their homes and give them a place to stay.

This radical hospitality is awesome and allows for some really amazing experiences and blessings, but it is also something that needed to be protected. Unfortunately, there were certain people who were going out into the world and taking advantage of this hospitality. Some of those people were false teachers who were teaching a message that was contrary to the truth. It is with that in mind that John writes to this congregation so that they can Remain in and Receive the Reward of Christ.

In this passage, John essentially gives two warnings and each warning has two parts. The first warning is for his readers to not be deceived so that they can keep their reward and the second warning is that the believers should not even greet the deceivers and should essentially have nothing to do with them.

First, let us look at the warning to them to not be deceived.

In order to do this, the believers first must:

Watch for Deceivers (v. 7)

i. These deceivers were ‘Going into the world’

Verse seven actually begins with a conjunction in the Greek, gar which means because. Obedience to walk in Love and Truth are so important because these deceivers were, and still are, ready to mislead and disrupt congregations. They were going out into the world to deceive true followers of Christ. These false teachers could be recognized by their erroneous belief.

These deceivers were not merely travelers who were going on business to do this or that and just so happened to believe something that was contrary to the truth, rather, these deceivers were intentionally going out into the world to spread a message. They had an agenda. If we can view as the Apostles being sent by the Father into the world with a message that would lead to life, then we can see these deceivers, as having been sent into the world by the father of Lies with a message that would lead to death. John was warning this congregation to watch out for these deceivers, these antichrists. Jesus himself predicted that many false christs would come in Matthew 24:5 and sadly He noted that many would be deceived. Biblically, this happened in both in Acts 5:36-37, where Theudas and Judas the Galilean are both recognized as deceivers as well as in Acts 21:38 when the deceiver is simply referred to as “the Egyptian.” Almost as soon as Jesus ascended into Heaven did false Jesus’ start to go out and they will not stop going out until Jesus returns and makes all things right.

It may sound sort of silly, but do you have a favorite berry? Not Chris or Claire, but like do you like strawberry over raspberries? Black berries or blue berries? I recently learned about what I think might be the one of the most hardcore sounding berries, they’re called the Black Nightshade. The black nightshade plant is edible and actually grows around the world and is pretty common. Some of you amateur botanists out there are probably familiar with this specific type of plant.

Now you don’t want to confuse Black Nightshade with its cousin who has an even more hardcore name: Death Nightshade. As the name might suggest, Death Nightshade, sometimes referred to as belladonna if were being fancy is in fact deadly.

As you can see from the pictures, these two berries are almost identical, yet they have extremely different outcomes when eaten. One is a fairly nutritious berry that is enjoyed around the world and is actually believed to have some healing properties for asthmatics whereas the other one is way more likely to take your breath away, and not in a good way.

In prepping for this sermon, I was reading a few different articles and watching a few different videos about the Black Nightshade and its deadly doppelgänger, and one of the things I found most interesting was this guy who was giving tips on how to recognize the differences and he ended up literally saying, and this is a direct quote, he said, “If you know the true one so very well then you wont be persuaded by the look-a-likes.” I am hard pressed to think of a quote about berries that could fit our faith better then this one.

Recognizing whether or not someone is teaching the truth about Jesus or not can have costly implications. The best way to guard against false teachings about Jesus is to know the true Jesus according to His word.

These deceivers were subtle enough to counterfeit the faith.. Isn’t that the scary thing about false religions today? They can look so similar to the truth. Often, the enemy doesn’t create a whole new random belief system, rather he moves and bends the truth just enough so as to get people off track. Like that of the black nightshade and death nightshade, the differences are often tiny and almost unnoticeable and yet if we are deceived, the outcome is deadly.

So who were the antichrists who were going out into the world? Well John clearly states that the antichrists are those where...

ii. Not confessing a true Christ

That is, they are those who deny the incarnation. They don’t believe that Jesus literally came in the flesh and was fully God and fully man. Therefore, the false teachers and deceivers were preaching a gospel that was contrary to the one that had already been preached. John is writing to this congregation so that they can look out for anyone who would deny Jesus as truly coming in the flesh.

I think we can use this passage and what John is writing as a starting point to figure out what it is that followers of Jesus need to die for, divide on, or disagree over. We can disagree over a whole lot of lesser issues and still have fellowship, we can rightly divide on some fairly big beliefs and still have fellowship, but we must always remember that when it comes to the truth of the Gospel and the person of Jesus, we must hold our ground and be wiling to die for that belief.

I was recently listening to an interview that Sean McDowell was doing. Many of you may be familiar with his father, Josh McDowell. Sean was interviewing a pastor of a church who had moved on in his understanding of scripture and recently wrote about it in a book. Sean asked this pastor if his views of Jesus as the Son of God had changed, and this pastor replied by saying that the affirmation of Jesus at his baptism as the beloved in whom God is well pleased is an affirmation that is true for all of us. The pastor went on to say that God is manifested in Jesus in the same way that he is completely manifested in you and me. This pastor could not believe articulate any longer a belief that Jesus is who He says He is. That He is God in the flesh. That He is both %100 human and %100 God.

We have this false gospel going out into the world today that seeks to bring Jesus from up here with God to down here with humans. It’s one that talks of Jesus as being just a normal guy who, through loving every one and just being a really good person, was looked at like a god, but wasn’t actually God. This false gospel approaches the truths of the bible as being just really good stories to illustrate a moral point.

At the same time, theres the other extreme being taught as well that says, God is up here, and when you come to faith, you’re brought up here too! You have all the same power and authority because now, you’re really no different the Jesus! Whatever you name, you can claim. This false Gospel puts humans on the same level as the divine.

What is true about both of these wrong beliefs is that the focus is on us when the focus should be on Christ.

John here is writing clearly that the true Gospel is that Jesus is %100 God and %100 human. Its this beautiful truth that says that God came down in human flesh to identify with us and make a way for us to be restored into right relationship with God. This is a truth that is being left behind by far too many who claim to be followers of Christ.

Again, it wasn’t as though these individuals simply did not believe in Jesus and not claim to be Christian, it was not a matter of private unbelief in the gospel, it was an active public denial in Jesus while claiming to be his followers that they were teaching.

We must not mistake false teachers preaching a false gospel with true brothers and sisters who hold to different views on lesser issues. We must stand united as the bride of Christ to demonstrate love to the word. We must know Jesus Christ so intimately that we are able to recognize Him and not be persuaded by the look-a-likes. We must be willing to lovingly call out wrong beliefs about the divinity of Jesus in the Church today and we must be willing to strive for biblical unity and radical hospitality. We must Remain in and Receive the Reward of Christ.

After encouraging the congregation to watch for deceivers, John moves to say...

Watch Yourselves (v. 8)

i. So that they would Not lose what had been worked for.

John and other leaders had worked so hard in what the Lord had set before them and did not want to see their work be broken down by wolves in sheep's clothing. He had such a deep love and care for this congregation and it would pain him to see what they had worked for be led astray.

I can empathize with this fear. On Thursday night, we held our last youth group of the semester and therefore the last youth group with me as the youth director. It was a bittersweet night where we shared memories of ways in which we have seen God move in our group. One of my biggest concerns with stepping down as youth director as we transition overseas is that some of our students would be led astray by world teachings. It would pain me to see any of these students who we have prayed for and taught and walked with for the past three years start to hold to false beliefs of who Jesus is.

What I was reminded of on Thursday however, is that it is not on me to save these students. Only Jesus can do that. It is on me to do my best and work hard to teach them the truth.

The thought here is not of their winning or losing salvation because that is a free gift, rather, John wanted them...

ii. To receive a full reward for their faithful service.

There is a potential connection being made with this imagery of receiving a reward to that of the reward of a payment for ones labor in both Matthew 20:8 and John 4:36. John may be thinking of both he and them as co-laborers in the Lord’s vineyard and as such he desired for them to receive a full days pay.

The danger for Christians, both then and now is to become lethargic in our faith and to then miss out on the blessings we receive when we serve the Lord. Some of these blessings are received now and others will be received in eternity.

The confidence we can have in our salvation should motivate us to action to win the reward set before us. Assurance of our salvation should look like diligence in our faith.

Now rewards for our faith is not something that we often talk about. And if we are not careful, we can be easily swayed into a wrong belief that our faith leads to earthly reward in the form of health or wealth. If we’re not careful, we can have a wrong belief that the gospel leads to earthly prosperity. Scripture is clear that our reward is ultimately Jesus Christ. In fact, the word for reward, misthos, is always singular in the New Testament. The reward is our eternal life with Christ. That reward will be fully experienced when He returns again.

And yet, here, and other places in scripture, there is a sense of receiving some things for our faithfulness. In fact, there are five key passages in the New Testament that reference believers receiving a “crown” (1 Cor. 9:25; 1 Thess. 2:19; 2 Tim. 4:8; James 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4). We don’t have the time to dive deeply into what these crowns may be, but I think it points to the idea that when we are faithful, we are storing up some sort of treasures in heaven .Though we don’t really know what exactly that will be we do know that ultimately, those crowns will be tossed down at the feet of Jesus.

One interesting option is one that Jonathan Edwards wrote about. He talked about rewards in heaven as being ones capacity to experience blessing.

You can almost think of it like a cup that we will all receive in eternity. That cup, for each of us who are with Christ, will be full and we will be satisfied completely but those cups will be varying sizes and able to hold different capacities. Some greater, some smaller.

So when we read passages like Matthew 19:29 that says,

Matthew 19:29 CSB

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields because of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life.

We can surmise that we will receive something far better then whatever this world may have for us when we are faithful to Christ.

Yet we have to be extremely cautious. We are not obedient in our faith so that we can receive blessings from God. We are obedient in our faith because we have recieved God and because of our hope to be with him. When we are obedient to Remain in Christ, We Receive the Reward of Christ.

John continues by giving them the second warning that believers should not even greet the deceivers and should essentially have nothing to do with them. In order to do this, you must...

Watch your Identity (v. 9)

Really, there are two types of people.

i. The ones who do not remain in the teachings.

These people go beyond Christ. There was actually a gnostic belief during this time that some people held that said that there are people who had obtained a higher level of understanding, as if they’ve somehow gained some secret knowledge. John here is sort of using their ideas against them as if to say that they have gone so far in wisdom and understanding that they have actually surpassed God himself! In doing so they have denied Jesus which is to deny the Father.

ii. The one who does remain in Christs’ teaching, remains in the Son and thus has the Father.

Jesus is not only the way to the Father, but He is the revelation of the Father. He is both the perfect prophet and priest, communicating God’s will and mediating for us. He and the Father are perfectly one. You cannot have the Father without having Jesus nor can you have Jesus without the Father. And what solidifies your faith in them is not any thing you can do, rather it is the seal of the Holy Spirit in you!

For those who go beyond the teachings of Christ, they are like the ones today who strive for the ideals of the Kingdom without submitting to the King. They want the peace, love, and perfect justice that only a Holy and Righteous God can bring but do not see the need for that King to rule and reign as supreme over their lives. It’s as if to say that they want to experience the sweetness of the cake but want to make up the recipe with whatever seems to fit their needs at the time.

Yet on the other hand, you have some who want the King but don’t care to bring about and strive for the Kingdom. It’s all about the worship of God without allowing gospel to truly dictate their actions. It’s what we talked about last week. A true belief in Jesus necessitates a right behavior for Jesus.

Where is your identity right now? John gives us two options: Are you remaining in the teachings of Christ or have you fallen prey to the teachings of the world? Can you recognize the difference between the two berries?

For those of us who remain in the teachings of Christ as put forth in this book, then the last part of our warning is to...

Watch your Response (v. 10)

It seems difficult to walk in love and then say, that we are not supposed to have anything to do with those who deny Jesus. But remember the context. When John says, “

i. Do not receive or greet the deceivers

He is instructing the local congregation to guard against false teachings. He is not speaking of ones private unbelief in the Gospel. Christians may surely welcome and host one who holds false views, especially when we seek to bring them closer to the truth. But Christians should not engage in the dissemination of lies that false teachers were and are still today spreading. In fact, we ought to go so far as to not even encourage those teachers who are believing something contrary to the truth, namely, the truth of the incarnation of Jesus.

In fact, John here is specifically referring to those who deny the incarnation. We should have no fellowship with them. John here is not referring to just those who hold to some different views on minor things in scripture. This verse gives us no warrant to refuse fellowship to those who believe or even teach something that we may just not agree with.

This verse is in references to how we should respond to those who desire to partner with us and yet deny Jesus. If they have a belief that says that Jesus is not truly God, then we must not have fellowship with them in the sense of partnering together for teaching. Now there is a difference between showing love and hospitality to someone and providing them a platform for false work. In John’s context, when he writes that they should not ‘welcome’ someone into the congregation he is saying that they should not allow someone to teach and lead who holds to wrong beliefs about Jesus Christ because in doing so, they are endorsing their false teaching and ultimately aiding in spreading more wrong beliefs.

John goes so far as to say that we should not...

iii. Share in their work.

For when we do, we are taking part in their wickedness. Followers of Jesus must not condemn themselves by what we approve. John’s instructions here in this passage may seem harsh. But it actually comes from a deep desire for the people he loves to glorify God in the truth of who Jesus is. If we are to walk in love then we cannot be indifferent to truth.

Conclusion

This passage can be pretty difficult. We’re discussing when to not have fellowship with people who claim to be followers of Jesus. It’s easier and more popular to simply focus on accepting everyone and all their ideas, but John here gives us a clear line in the sand for who to accept and not too. And the implications of accepting false teachings about Jesus and His divinity and in giving a platform for those teachings to continue on are detrimental to the body. It can cause believers to lose out on the rewards of our faith and it can cause those who have not yet heard the true Gospel to have a harder time accepting the truth of who Jesus is.

For those of us who have a relationship with Jesus, we must Remain in and Receive the Reward of Christ.

The apostle John is writing to this congregation whom he loves and he is reminding them that The elect are those who remain in obedience to walk in truth and love and who will receive the reward of Christ.

So LifeWay, we must ask ourselves the same. We will live into our election and remain in obedience to walk in truth and love and so receive the reward of Christ?

Let’s pray.