Love One Another - 2 John 4-6
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
[READING - 2 John 4-6]
4 I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father. 5 Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. 6 And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
[PRAYER]
If you are reading the NASB or another more recent translation, you’ll likely find the word “some” in v. 4—“I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth...”
But if you are reading the NASB, you’ll notice that the word “some” is italicized, which means that its a supply word—a word not found in the Greek text that is added in the English translation so we can better understand what is being said.
The KJV actually doesn’t used the word “some”. It says…
4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
This matters because, according to the KJV, John found the people of this church walking in the truth—but in the NASB and other translations, he only found some of them walking in the truth.
So, which is it?
Was it all of them or some of them?
Well, let me ask you, “Have you ever been to a church in which everyone was walking according to the truth?”
Even in the best of churches, it always a some.
In one church, it might be many.
In another church, it might be a few.
But in every church, its a some—some are walking in the truth and others are not.
The use of the word “some” is also correct because the phrase “of your children” in Greek is a partitive phrase.
If you don’t know what a partitive phrase is, don’t feel bad. I didn’t either. But we use partitive phrases in English all the time.
Phrases like slice of bacon, piece of pizza, and scoop of ice cream are all partitive phrases. (In fact, all three of those are actually among my favorite partitive phrases.)
So, the Greek sense in which the phrase “of your children” is written is the partitive sense, meaning “some of your children.”
And here’s the question that pops into my mind when I understand that only some of the folks in this church were walking in the truth: What do you do? What do you do when some in the church are walking in the truth, but others—perhaps many others—are not?
We find some of the ANSWERS to that question in vv. 4-6…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
Answer #1: Be glad for the some who are walking in the truth (v. 4).
Answer #1: Be glad for the some who are walking in the truth (v. 4).
4 I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father.
[EXP] John starts the main portion of his letter by saying that he was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth.
John doesn’t tell us how he found some of these children (i.e., some of these Christians) walking in truth. Perhaps he found this out during a previous visit or from a report that someone delivered to him.
In any case, John rejoiced greatly… it had given him great joy… in fact, he was overjoyed to find that some were walking in truth.
To “walk in truth” means to believe the truth and to live in obedience to the truth, seeking to conform one’s life to the truth.
But what is the truth to which John refers?
It is what John referred to in the prologue to his gospel. Remember what John said…
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The false teachers that John confronted in 1, 2, and 3 John likely claimed that Jesus only seemed or appeared to have a human body and that he only seemed or appeared to be a human person. In other words, they said that Jesus really didn’t have a body and wasn’t really human.
This lead to heretical beliefs like Jesus only appearing or seeming to die on the cross when it was actually Judas.
And it also led to immoral living. The false teachers and their disciples believed the body to be defiled already, so whatever defiling things one did in the body didn’t matter because one couldn’t defile what was already defiled.
To all of this John responded with the truth.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 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.
3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
This is the truth that John was glad to find some of these believers in 2 John walking in “just as we have received commandment to do from the Father.”
The use of the word “commandment” is, of course, intentional. John Stott wrote…
“To go astray from revealed truth (whether in doctrine or morals) is not just an unfortunate error, but an active disobedience, for we are to walk in the truth just as the Father commanded us.”
[ILLUS] We may think it absurd that someone would actually deny a fundamental truth like Jesus coming in actual human flesh. We may think it absurd that they would deny that Jesus died on the cross as an actual human being. We may think it absurd that someone would deny the importance of living a life of moral purity.
But we will think it even more absurd when those same people call themselves Christians.
This is what was happening in John’s day, and it is still happening today.
Not too long ago a popular Christian pastor and author named Rob Bell denied the importance of the Virgin Birth and the Holy Trinity by suggesting that we could get along without those truths.
In her book, Another Gospel?, Alisa Childers details her experience at a Christian church where her pastor invited her to be a part of a small group study in which he revealed that he no longer believed in many of the core tenets of Christianity—Jesus as the only way of salvation, the Bible as the Word of God, and so on.
Whole Christian denominations are conforming to the culture on sexual immorality rather than holding to the truth of God’s word on such matters.
In other words, just as it was in John’s day, so it is today: many who call themselves Christian deny the truths of Christianity and live contrary to the purity of Christ.
[APP] How should we respond?
I think like John did.
First, we identify some still walking in the truth both doctrinally and morally and be glad for them.
Thank God for them!
John rejoiced that some were still walking in the truth!
Not all had apostatized!
Not all had abandoned the faith!
Not all had taken up the morality of the world!
Some were still believing and following Jesus!
Thank God!
Even today, if we think that the church is in trouble because supposed Christians are denying the truths of Christ and living contrary to the purity of Christ, we can be glad that it isn’t everyone!
There are some with us who are walking in truth as the Father commanded.
[TS] …
Answer #2: Love the some who are walking in the truth (v. 5).
Answer #2: Love the some who are walking in the truth (v. 5).
5 Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
[EXP] In v. 4 John rejoiced to find some walking in the truth, which he said was commanded by God the Father. Added to that command to walk in truth is this old command in v. 5 to love one another.
John says the command to love is one we’ve had from the beginning—from the beginning of the Christian movement when Christ took on flesh and dwelt among us. When Jesus gave it, He called it a new commandment…
34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
By the time of the writing of 2 John, the command to love was an old command, one that had always been understood as a core tenant of Christianity since Jesus gave it.
What John means by “old” is not something that is soon to pass away.
What John means by “old” is something that has been since the beginning, something that has stood the test of time, and something that would remain for all eternity.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
But love will never pass away.
What Jesus said was a new commandment for His disciples--and what John said was an old commandment by the time of his writing—is actually an eternal commandment—and that commandment is to love one another.
It is apparent from 1 John that the false teachers and their disciples actually hated those who didn’t hold to their views. John makes repeated reference to this…
9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.
11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
When John thought of the hatred of these false teachers, he could hear the old command of Jesus…
12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
Because of the conflict with the false teachers, John knew how important it was for the faithful of this besieged church to love one another, so he asked, begged, and pleaded with them to love one another.
This was the appeal of the Apostle John, whom they knew as their beloved elder—their pastor.
And this was the command of Jesus, the Christ, their Savior.
This was a powerful combination in convincing the readers of 2 John to love one another.
[ILLUS] This past Wednesday night, our younger children’s class talked about anger using “Mad Monsters” - a group of individual monsters each representing a different emotion or feeling that might make us angry.
There’s Jealous Jill whose jealousy turns her into an angry monster.
There’s Gimme Jimmy whose greed makes him irate.
There’s Not Fair Fergus whose worry makes him angry.
There’s Hungry Hank who needs to eat so he doesn’t turn into a monster.
There’s Owie Howie who says monstrous things when he gets hurt.
There’s Frustrated Fred who rages out when he gets frustrated.
And, finally, there is I Don’t Wanna Walter who gets angry anytime anyone tells him what to do.
“He gets made when forced to do what he doesn’t want. He crosses his arms and stiffens his body like a statue. He puts on a pouty face and refuses to move. He drags his feet and moves very slowly.”
[APP] Now, why I am I telling you about I Don’t Wanna Walter?
Because when we think about this command to love one another, we might sometimes respond, “But I don’t wanna!”
Sure, we agree to love one another in general, but when we have to love a specific someone (maybe someone who gets on our nerves), we drag our feet and move very slowly.
What do we do when we don’t wanna obey the command to love one another?
We do it anyway because that is what Jesus commanded us to do.
Love in this respect is not a feeling, emotion, or passion.
It’s is an obedient response to the command of Jesus Christ—He who holds all authority in Heaven and on earth.
Jesus who said…
17 “This I command you, that you love one another.
[TS] So be glad for the some who are walking in the truth—and love the some who are walking in the truth, and finally this morning…
Answer #3: Walk with the some who are walking in truth and love (v. 6).
Answer #3: Walk with the some who are walking in truth and love (v. 6).
6 And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
[EXP] In this verse John defines love in terms of truth and defines truth in terms of love.
One proves that he loves God by walking according to God’s truth—i.e., by obeying His commandments.
One proves that he believes God’s truth by walking according to God’s love—i.e., in sacrificing for the good of his brothers and sisters just as Jesus did.
But there is a personal touch from John that I want you to notice throughout this passage—a personal touch that said to John readers, “I’m walking with you—the some—who are walking in truth and who must make sure to walk in love.”
You see that personal touch in v. 4 when he referred to walking in truth as the commandment we received from the Father.
You see it in v. 5 when he referred to the old command as the one in which we love one another.
You see it in v. 6 when he said, “this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.”
All along John is reminding his readers that he is walking with them in truth and love.
[ILLUS] The state of Alabama requires you to teach physical education to your children if you teach them at home. That in addition to all the usual subjects.
This past Friday, Cheryl, the kids, and I were in the garage doing some of that physical education.
And at one point, we were doing a plank.
If you don’t know what that is, imagine your getting ready to do a push-up with only your hands and toes on the ground, but instead of your hands, its your elbows on the ground. (Cheryl will demonstrate after the service for anyone who would like to see one.)
So, you get in that position—elbows and toes on the ground, the rest of your body suspended horizontally in the air—and you just hold there until you die or at least until you feel like you’re going to die.
As we did our plank, I started to joke with Dalton by yelling, “Don’t quit, DL! Don’t you dare quit! If you quit, I’ll kill you!” (We’re very playful like that.)
Dalton eventually yelled out, “I’m not going to quit!”
[APP] It may not seem like it, but John is telling his readers, “Don’t quit.
“Some of you are walking in the truth, and I’m glad.
“But make sure to love one another, and don’t quit.
“I’m walking right here with you in truth and love in the way of Jesus, don’t quit.”
Just as I was yelling to Dalton, “Don’t quit,” as I did the plank along with him, John was saying to his readers, “Don’t quit,” as he walked along with them.
What a great encouragement it is when we find brothers and sisters walking with us when we are walking through a difficult time.
Let us be that encouragement for one another.
Let us be glad for the some who walk in truth.
Let us love the some who walk in truth.
And let us walk with the some who walk in truth and love, reminding one another, “Don’t quit.”
It may seem like many are abandoning the faith.
It may seem like the love of many has grown cold.
It may seem like the church is under attack.
Even so, be the some who walk with one another in truth and love, and don’t quit.
[TS] …
Conclusion
Conclusion
[PRAYER]