Sermon Tone Analysis

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is, as always, a great privilege to be here with you today and an absolute honor to share the Word of God with you.

This morning, we are going to be switching gears from what we have been going through for the past month or so.

We had been looking at Psalm 119 and the wonderful treasure trove that Psalm is for reminding us of the sustaining power there is in God’s Word.

That basic principle still applies and always will.

It is good for us to be reminded of things that we know to be true.

In fact, that is the primary purpose of preaching in the church.

It is to remind the saints of what God has called us to be and give encouragement for continuing on in that calling.

In my life, and I would think that it is the same for most of us here today, I love and need reminders constantly.

My wife knows that if I go to the store for us, I need a list!

It’s not that I forget that we have needs in the house.

I know and remember that we have to have food to survive and supplies for the babies.

But when I walk into the hustling and bustling world of Costco, I am quick to forget the specific directives I had been given to meet the needs of my family.

I mean who wouldn’t forget what they were supposed to be going when there are free samples on every corner and then turn and see a great deal on a 50 ft garden hose!

It is in those moments that having the reminder of a shopping list is necessary to bring me back on track and ensure my duty as a providing husband has been fulfilled.

In a similar way, the exhortations from the pulpit of the local church are a reminder to those who love the Lord and understand their honor and responsibility to live for Him.

God, in His great grace, has provided His children with His Word and His Church to remind them and keep them on track as they go about their lives in a lost world full of distractions.

We see this play out in Scripture.

We are reminded the importance of gathering together.

I shared this analogy this past Sunday night, but it’s important enough to share again.

Long distance communication is a good thing with a purpose!

Our troops overseas are able to communicate with their families back home and see them on a screen.

It is a great form of communication in that application.

But we would think it was absurd if they were to finish their service, make their way home, and then continue to only speak to their families through a screen!

In a similar way, I am thankful for digital means to share the teaching of the church, but the fullness of Christian encouragement occurs together, in person!

God has given us the local church to serve Him through.

It is here where we are encouraged and challenged to grow together and hold one another accountable in our service of Him.

We are reminded that we aren’t doing this alone but we are a singular part of the BODY of Christ.

Coming together on a regular and consistent basis is a reminder of who are and what we are called to do.

And then, when we get here, the teaching that we receive continues to remind us and equip us to press on for God’s glory in our lives.

The apostles, writing to the first churches, understood the necessity of reminders for the saints of the church:

Biblical truths are reminded and repeated because they are essential for both the early church and us here today as we go about our lives for the glory of God.

It is a great grace that God has given us His Word and His church to work in concert in our lives to remind us of our purpose.

I bring all of this up as an introduction to what we will be covering for the next four weeks as we walk through 2 and 3 John.

These two letters are reminders.

Reminders to the original recipients and us here today on our calling and our practice in service to the Lord.

They are “quick hitters.”

Both books are only one chapter and neither have more than 15 verses in total.

But the goodness contained, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and recorded by the Apostle John, serve as great reminders for living out our faith in the God who reconciled us, all those believe in Christ as Lord, unto Himself.

With that in mind, would you open your Bibles to 2 John.

Today we will be looking at the first half of this letter.

There is virtually no debate as to the authorship of this letter.

The content contained in this letter is a complimentary extension of John’s major themes through the Gospel of John and the epistle dubbed 1 John.

There is some debate as to who the recipient of this letter was, but regardless it is applicable for us today.

Read with me the greeting of 2 John.

The debate in deciding who the recipient of this letter comes down to defining “The elect lady and her children.”

After combing through many different commentaries this week, scholars believe that this is either a particular lady, saved by the grace of God, or lady used as a metaphor for an early local church, full of members likewise saved by the grace of God.

I am less concerned with ending that debate, and more interested in applying the direct and loving message John has for this group.

John here identifies himself as “the elder.”

This word would be commonly recognized in the Early church, but is not seen very often in the modern baptist church.

To put it simply, the word elder is used in the New Testament interchangeably with overseer and pastor.

You can see this most easily in 1 Peter:

1 Peter 5:1–2 (ESV)

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

An elder oversees the local congregation willingly and for God’s glory.

An elder shepherds the flock God has given him.

The word Pastor means shepherd.

GO BACK TO 2 JOHN 1-3 AFTER I QUICKLY EXPLAIN PASTOR MEANS SHEPHERD

So when we see here in 2 John that he introduce himself as “The Elder” in 2 John, he is speaking to this group, whether it be a particular family or a congregation, with the loving affection and compassionate care of an overseeing shepherd.

He is directing this group as God would have him do.

The elder is seeking to glorify the Lord through this letter.

I want to drive this home because it helps set the precedent for all teaching you receive from an elder, from a pastor.

The pastor MUST love those whom he serves as undershepherd.

Love has to be the primary force in the outworking of a pastor, but not only the pastor, also the Christian!

Jesus said that they will know we are His disciples by our love for one another.

John recorded those words of Jesus in the Gospel of John chapter 13.

In our Scripture from 2 John we see the application of that command.

John loves this group and writes to them corrective and edifying words to build them up in their walk with the Lord.

That is a loving act.

I have spoken about love before, particularly as we walked through the book of 1 John.

Today, we will see the intrinsic relatedness of love and truth.

Notice how John expresses his love and how it is centered upon the mutual understanding of truth:

John loves this group in truth.

And he is not the only one who loves them, but all who know the truth love them.

The truth that is in them abides, dwells, remains in them forever.

All of these mentioned have grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from God the Son, Jesus Christ, and they have it in truth and love.

They are united together in mutual love by truth.

John starts with his particular love and then expands it to all those who know the truth.

This takes the particular message and expands it all believers.

All born-again believers, those who are saved by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, are united in love and truth, and not just for a certain time, but forever!

It has often been said that Durbin Memorial Baptist Church is a loving church.

It is my sincere hope and prayer that that is always the case.

I pray every day for this church and for the love of God to continue to permeate through our midst.

But the love in this church is not something for us to boast about!

It is something that we have received by the grace of God!

Look at verse 2 into verse 3. The truth, the binder and catalyst of love between believers, remains with them forever.

Not only truth but also Grace, Mercy, and Peace WILL be with all those reconciled to God the Father through faith in the Son.

By God’s grace all those who know the truth of Christ as Lord receive mercy and are brought into peace, not just in the short term, but for all of eternity!

All of this pouring from and uniting us in the love of God!

Here we see the Father and Son working in concert of perfect love to give undeserving sinners grace, mercy and peace!

This truth, the absolute fact of Christ dying to pay for the sins of all who believe in Him and reconciling them to the Father, show the unity of these virtues in all of the redeemed!

Look back at verse 3.

Here John is using a fairly common salutation to his letter.

It is pretty close to the introduction I use in each sermon which comes from Paul’s letters to the churches.

But don’t let familiarity obfuscate the deep meaning:

Typically in these epistolary greetings, the apostles are writing to the churches “wishes” or hopes of grace and peace.

Which is good!

We should be hoping for and praying for grace, peace and mercy for other believers.

But John here augments the greeting to say that grace, mercy, and peace WILL be with us.

One commentary stated that “Through truth and love, God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ have bestowed to us grace, mercy, and peace.