Latest / HBCWestminster / 2.19.20 2 & 3 John Pastor Nathan Anderson

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2.19.20 2 & 3 John Pastor Nathan Anderson · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  We are going to be doing second and third John tonight. Two, you know, like Jude, very short epistles, short letters from John. And, you know, if I'm honest with you guys, I have been waiting to get to this study for about two months.
• 0:26
  I have been really excited about getting to these two letters. I grew in excitement over time as I was studying and leading up to these, as we were preparing to study these two short letters. I think it's 13 and 15 verses each.
• 0:46
  I really have enjoyed, I hope you guys have enjoyed our walk through the first epistle of John and all that that contained. I mean, it is such a direct and impactful letter from the Apostle John. But as I studied more and more, I found myself longing to get here. And I think as I thought that through and I thought about why I was excited about coming to this, I tend to be a fairly practical person.
• 1:14
  to know the nuts and bolts of something and how it works. I don't necessarily like to talk about theory as much as see something in action, the practical application of it. And if I'm learning something, I'm a very visual learner. If you show me how to do it, then I can usually figure it out. If I watch a YouTube video on how to take something out of my car, I can probably figure it out.
• 1:40
  If you don't ever give me that visual context, it's harder for me to really find an application and find value in what I'm learning.
• 1:51
  and really actually desire to store it away for later to be used. And so as we study through 1 John, and John lays out all of these details and builds his argument throughout the book, I enjoyed that. I appreciate the detail and the literary skill with which John writes that first epistle.
• 2:11
  However, in these two we're going to look at tonight, I see John writing to applaud three people whom are living out that which John called the church to in that first letter. We get to see three lives that are lived in a way that John is commending them for and says brings him joy to write about. And so we can see a practical outworking.
• 2:36
  of what he is calling them to and was calling us to in the first letter. Thus, in these letters, we have a very visual, easy to grab a hold of application for us each tonight. And I read, as I read these two short letters, they got me excited for what a life lived out in loving fellowship with fellow believers can really look like.
• 3:06
  It is a cool thing and it's an amazing thing when we act on the commands and obedience to the Lord. And John not only commends this, but he also tells us that as these things are lived out, it glorifies the Lord and brings joy to all those involved. And so it is a joyful thing to study.
• 3:35
  When I think about these lives that we're going to look at, I think of fresh baked bread. Fresh baked bread. If you walk into a home or a place that has freshly made bread, that is a pleasant, pleasant aroma. And immediately when you walk into a home that has fresh baking out, it's welcoming.
• 4:04
  Right? You feel welcomed right away. You feel like being there. Like this is a home that will be pleasant to be in and around. And so it is with the lives of these three people we're going to look at tonight. The elect lady, Gaius and Demetrius. I believe their lives are like the smell of fresh baked bread.
• 4:32
  Our title for tonight is going to be Faithful Homes. Faithful Homes. How do we have them? What does it look like? Our points for tonight are going to be a faithful family. We're going to use 2 John for that. We're going to look at a faithful leader, 3 John verses 1 through 8. They're going to be that. And a faithful testimony, 3 John verses 9 through 13.
• 5:02
  And let's read. We're going to read just a portion of 2 John, and we'll pray and get started with our study tonight. Let's start. We'll read the first six verses of 2 John. And it says,
• 5:30
  And not only I, but also all who know the truth because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, and peace be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth.
• 5:55
  just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning that we love one another. And this is the love that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment just as you heard from the beginning so that you should walk in it. Let's pray.
• 6:21
  Father in heaven, Lord, as we come to this study tonight, I pray that you would help us to see the application and the influence of lives lived well, Lord, that we would grab a hold of the truths in these two short letters, Lord, and really chew on them, Lord, consume them, and allow your spirit to really...
• 6:50
  envelop our minds and convict us and encourage us and challenge us to the way that we ought to walk in response to these examples set forth in your word. God, guide the words tonight. May you be glorified and honored in the teaching of your truth. In your name, amen. We just recently started a new book.
• 7:18
  In our staff devotions on Tuesday mornings, we read through a book together. We read a paragraph at a time, and we do some verse memorization. But the book is a fun part of our staff devotions that we do together. And the one that we just started is called The Most Important Place on Earth. And we're only two weeks in, but the book is building this argument right now that the home is the most important place.
• 7:47
  On earth. In his introduction the author says. Two very impactful things. He says we claim. That we have. The right theology. But our lives. And our families. Often bear no resemblance. To what God may have had in mind. For us in the first place. He goes on and he says. In his introduction he says. Christian homes are their neighborhoods. Flypaper.
• 8:18
  They should be sticky places of unsuspecting children who live next door or down the street as they are mysteriously drawn to and welcomed with open arms. Places that they know are filled with fun and grown-ups should have no apprehensions about dropping in on one of these homes to borrow a cup of sugar or a couple eggs or to share good food.
• 8:47
  Or very tough news. In the home is where the identity and security of a child is built. Where the marriage is built up or torn down. Where as we let our guards down, we reveal ourselves in a way that's seen nowhere else. It's where the child down the street who has a tough home finds refuge. It's where the neighbor who has questions about the Bible comes to find a place.
• 9:20
  the questions are welcomed and answered. It is where a single mom who is at her wit's end finds refuge of prayer and help whenever she needs. At the home of a Christian is where the love of Christ should shine brightest as we care and love our spouses and kids and care for our Jerusalems, right? Tonight, I want us to consider this truth, this reality, our homes are the most important place.
• 9:48
  Because it's where we minister every day. And because of this, I want us to consider three people who should show themselves faithful enough to be called out as ones to be praised for their walk in the truth. So let's first look at this elect lady and her faithful family.
• 10:11
  The elect lady and her children, it says. There is conversation, there is discussion in many commentaries about whom John is writing this letter to. Is it just a church that this lady is involved with? Or is this a family? Or is it possibly both? There are...
• 10:34
  statements from John that are referencing her children, and then there are inclusive statements that are we's. So if we're to understand this, I believe, and I think many commentaries agree with this, that this letter is both to this lady's family, her children, as well as a church that was probably meeting in her home.
• 11:01
  So there is hospitality and there is both the reality of biological family as well as spiritual family represented in the words that John writes to this lady, to the elect lady and her children, whom I love. Throughout history, the home has been at the crosshairs of the enemy's plans, I believe.
• 11:31
  The place where Satan, the destroyer, desires to tear down what the Lord is seeking to build up. I think we see this throughout history. We certainly see it present in our current culture, do we not? That this is, the home is, as God defines it, under attack. Certainly saw it in the early church.
• 11:57
  Titus dealt with it with attacks on the Christian home and wrote to direct families and the church to stand firm against false teaching, which, as he wrote, were upsetting whole families by the false teaching which was present.
• 12:15
  In the book of 2 Timothy, Paul, as he admonishes and encourages Timothy to stand firm in the faith and lead with the passion and skill gifted him by God, he says in the third chapter of the letter in verse 6, for among them are those who creep into households. Households. Upsetting families, upsetting households.
• 12:41
  The enemy is after the home. He is out to devour it, to destroy it, to keep it from being what God has intended it to be. Because of this, we must seek to understand what it can be and should be so we can put our attention towards the path God desires for us to walk, that we can stand firm against the attacks of the enemy and encourage one another because the battle is real. The enemy is out for the family. So let's consider this family written.
• 13:12
  in this second letter, this faithful family? What can we observe from this family that can inform us, teach us, help us to know how we can be faithful in our homes, in our families? I think there are four things which can help us to build a God-honoring home, which we find in this second letter of John. First is we can know the truth. Verse 1,
• 13:43
  Talks about, but also all who know the truth, because the truth that abides in us will be with us forever. And then he goes down in verse four and he says, I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth. John uses truth four times in this initial greeting. This first three verses, he actually uses the word.
• 14:07
  greeting, as he greets the dear lady, he uses the word truth four times. And so greeting the family in this way, John identifies that the most, that this is not merely words or head knowledge, but that their lives reflect the truth they know. This goes far beyond mere appearances. They didn't just know about the truth. They knew it within their souls. John goes further and says,
• 14:35
  truth and love. Truth and love can, as we saw as we studied first John, have a head knowledge, right? John in the first letter admonishes the people to not just know about the truth, but to actually take action on it, to experience the truth, to allow knowledge to become belief.
• 15:07
  And experience. We are to experience the knowledge of the truth. This is to say that we can and should not only know the truth. But also that the truth should live in us and through us. And be seen through our lives. We can and should live to display and make truth known. This means that knowing the truth as we saw in 1 John. Is more than simply ascribing to the right doctrines.
• 15:37
  Titus 3, 4 through 8 says, But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
• 16:06
  The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable.
• 16:25
  For people, right doctrine must lead to right living. And we find a family whom John is rejoicing over because they are walking in the truth. They know the truth and that truth is being walked. And that leads us to our second thing about what a home, a faithful home looks like. We know the truth. We walk in the truth.
• 16:50
  We walk in the truth. This next section, he says, verses four through six, I rejoice greatly to find some of you, your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the father. And now I ask you, dear lady, not as though I were writing a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning that we love one another. And this is love that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment.
• 17:18
  And just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. This family, which John is writing to, not only knew the truth, but it was walking in the truth. I rejoice greatly for your children were walking in the truth. Here in this section, we see commandment also spoken of, directly referred to or inferred once.
• 17:47
  Directly referred to four times and referred to one time. All are referenced as coming from the Father. So all these commandments referenced are from the Father. And each commandment is an expression of love from the Father. The will of God is revealed in the revelation of God. And by His word, it is revealed. Psalm 33, 11 tells us this. The counsel of the Lord stands forever. The plans of His heart.
• 18:19
  heart to all generations. The will of God is revealed in the revelation of God. As John says and speaks of these commandments, these are the revelations, these are the revealing of God's will to his people and commended to us that we would walk in them and we find this family walking in the commandments.
• 18:46
  Of the Lord walking in the truth. This means the word of God is not just knowledge of himself. Which he has passed on to us. But the very heart of God revealed to us. The very heart of God our father. Lovingly and precisely revealed to us that we might know. So that we might walk. John says he rejoiced because the children of this elect lady were found walking in the truth.
• 19:20
  The false teachers of the day were seeking to distort the walk, the fellowship of the believers. And here John finds a family, a woman whom is walking in the truth. Her children are walking in the truth and he rejoices over this. An interesting observation I read in a commentary. If you go down to verse 9, he says,
• 19:48
  Verse 8, watch yourselves so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. This walking that they were doing that John commends them for had led to a progress to walking in loving obedience to the Lord's word. And thus the family had experienced.
• 20:14
  They had experienced sanctification. John later says, watch yourselves so that you do not lose what we have worked for, the progress that they had made. They had progressed along in living out the walking in the truth, which John had admonished the churches towards. And first, John, and John desperately wants them to continue. John says, you know the truth. You're walking in the truth, living in the truth. Keep it up.
• 20:46
  Keep it up. Keep going. Keep walking forward that you don't lose the progress that you've made. Know the truth. Walk in the truth. And walk in love and obedience. As John points out these commandments and that we are to walk in these commandments, it's easy to see commandments often in...
• 21:11
  In our lives, and I think it's just natural for us as people to see commandments or laws or rules as something that keeps us from something or that's done. If you think about discipline, you may have had experience where discipline was done in anger or not in a loving way.
• 21:41
  This is not what John is talking about. This is not what this family is doing. They're not walking some tightrope on this legalistic path towards the opportunity to be righteous in the view of others. This is...
• 22:00
  walking in the loving commandments gifted to them from a loving Heavenly Father. And so they walk in loving response to this. And this is love, he says in verse 6, that we walk according to his commandments. If God's revelation reveals his will, and God, as we know from...
• 22:26
  First, John, is love and is truth. His truth expresses love to us. And so if we walk in accordance with it, we will experience the love of God in our lives. This is not some stick-in-the-mud legalistic following after rules to look righteous. This is a loving response to a loving revelation.
• 22:58
  To his people. To us. Walk in loving obedience. John rejoiced because they were. Know the truth. Walk in the truth. Walk in love and obedience. And the last is that we see in here as far as what a family, a faithful family looks like. I believe John has a warning to watch.
• 23:31
  For untruth, the last thing I want us to notice in this second letter is the warning, the call to be watchful as we consider what it looks like to build and maintain faithful homes. A faithful home is a watchful home. Untruth, deceptions come from all sources. We learned even from our own hearts, right? In 1 John, deception comes from all places, but has one thing in mind, destruction.
• 24:05
  John says, watch yourself, be on the lookout. As I see John's warning and challenge to be watchful, I think of my two daughters who at a much younger age, about four and two, I can remember in our first home, I can remember coming home from work and seeing their little faces just pressed right up against the glass, waiting, being...
• 24:32
  diligent to watch, waiting for me to come, there was no way I was sneaking into that house without them noticing because they were so attentive to what was coming.
• 24:49
  Obviously that's a positive and on the negative sense, right? I think that's the kind of attention, the kind of diligence we should have as we watch for untruth, deception. It's everywhere. On the way to, I took Oren to Costco just tonight before we came here and we were going to go just exchange some clothes. I bought him size 10, 12, which were up to his head. On the way back,
• 25:20
  From Costco to come to church, he just said, he's in the back of my truck, and he just said, Dad, what does fortune mean? I said, well, it kind of depends, buddy. I said, but usually it means like, you know, a lot of something. You have a fortune. It costs a lot of money. You have a lot of money. Something like that. And he said, okay. He said, but why would, what does it mean when they say fortune telling?
• 25:51
  Oh, okay. That's a good question. And I explained to him, this is people who think they can tell what's going to happen to you, and they kind of trick people into believing this, and come to find out it was on a show that he had seen, that there was a fortune teller that was on one of their...
• 26:19
  TV shows that they had watched, and so he's running through his mind and trying to figure out what is this. Satan is after the home, and he brings deception and lies in from all sources, from everywhere. And if we're not diligent, if we're not watchful, if we're not prepared to have conversations with our kids, with our spouses, we can...
• 26:51
  allow untruth and lies to be believed unwittingly, unknowingly. So John admonishes them, encourages them, be watchful, watch out, because there are false teachers everywhere. Holy smokes. All right. I was going to say a couple more things, but we're not going to now. Faithful homes.
• 27:28
  Faithful families. Faithful homes have faithful families. Faithful homes also have faithful leaders. 3 John 1-8, we meet an extremely faithful leader. And I'm going to point out just a couple things about this man, Gaius, for us. Two things that I really think are special and speak to just how...
• 28:00
  wonderful a man, a godly man this person was. He says, the elder, that's John, to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth, beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health. And here it is. You might pass over this. I've passed over this a bunch. I pray that it might go well, that you may be in good health.
• 28:30
  as it goes well with your soul. You guys catch what John just did. He says, I want your physical body. I pray your physical body is in as good a condition as your soul is. Your soul is fit. I pray that you may be in good health as it fits together well with how fit.
• 28:59
  how you have a soul that is in such good health. I pray that your body looks as good as your soul. Then he says, For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you were walking in the truth. And he goes on and he speaks of what that testimony looked like.
• 29:32
  What that walking in the truth looked like. In this person's life. In this man's life. It looked like welcoming strangers into his house. People he had never met. He was welcoming these strangers into his home. And was giving of his time. He was giving of his hospitality. And later.
• 30:04
  John commends him or encourages him to give of his finances. You get the sense as you read about Gaius that this was somebody who would have done anything for the church. He loved the church. He opened his home to those he didn't know. He had a soul that was in such good shape that he is commended for it and brings joy to.
• 30:33
  the elder to John as he hears about how this guy is walking in the truth. Gaius walked in the truth. He loved the church. Trying to figure out how to summarize. A faithful leader walks in the truth, loves the church, but he also stands against lies and wickedness. John speaks of somebody who was just truly wicked.
• 31:23
  Diotrephus, who had put himself first, didn't acknowledge authority, was talking wicked things and nonsense about those whom God had commissioned with the gospel. And then it goes on and he talks about that he wasn't even content with these things. He actually refused to welcome people who would welcome John and those whom John
• 31:50
  And would actually kick him out of the church. This was a bad dude. I believe as John addresses this letter to Gaius. He is encouraging, challenging him to stand against this kind of man. This kind of person. That they would not have a voice in the church. A faithful leader does not allow.
• 32:22
  for these kinds of wicked things to take place in their home or in their church. And then lastly, John gives a contrast to this man who spoke just wicked, evil things. And he tells us of somebody who had a faithful testimony. Faithful homes have faithful families. They are led by a faithful leader.
• 32:52
  And that gives them a faithful testimony. John says, Demetrius, in verse 12, Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.
• 33:17
  Just a couple brief things. When you read about this, this man who had a good testimony of faithful, it was a good testimony because he was faithful. It says that the testimony is people talk good about him. Everyone talks good about him, right? There's nobody who has anything bad to say about Demetrius because Demetrius lives out his faith. John says, not only does everybody
• 33:47
  have a good testimony about the way that Demetrius lives, but the truth, God's word actually testifies to the truth about how impactful Demetrius' testimony, how good his testimony is because he lived in accordance with this. He has a good testimony from everyone and from the truth itself. That is God's word. There are people who we can think of that fit that, right? If you think about
• 34:25
  a Gary Buss, right? Who has anything bad to say about a Gary Buss? Dale Jackson, Dina Jones, Carol McClure. Who's going to say something bad about Carol McClure? She has a testimony that is good from everyone. Because faithful homes have faithful families, because they have faithful leadership, they have the opportunity.
• 34:55
  To have faithful testimonies. Brothers and sisters. When you study a book like 1 John. It can feel overwhelming. The call to a life which is submitted. Obedient to the truth. Can seem daunting. Even impossible at times. But John in these two epistles. Gives us such practical examples. Of normal everyday people. One he doesn't even name by name. He just says the elect lady. That's how important her name was.
• 35:27
  big a person she was in society. She just gets the elect lady, but yet her faithfulness led to faithful children and is commended by John. God has called us to a life of loving obedience to his word. If we do so, we can have faithful families who know the truth, walk in the truth, and lovingly obey the truth, and that's going to smell like fresh baked bread, right? That's going to give us
• 35:59
  homes that people walk into feel welcomed. They feel the love of Christ, the aroma as Corinthians, I think it's 2 Corinthians, talks about. I know we didn't get to dive as deep into the text tonight, but I pray that the overview that we did was a blessing. There are some really beautiful things spoken of of these three people in those two short letters, and I encourage you to check those out.
• 36:29
  even in greater detail. I'm going to pray. I really appreciate you guys sticking with me through these three letters. I hope you guys have enjoyed it as I have as we've studied through this together. I really look forward to being over there and doing these favorite passages. I was talking with Tom Miller, who's going to teach next week, about what he's going to teach on. And I'm just excited about what we're going to hear from the word in that as well.
• 36:55
  Let's pray and we will be done. Father in heaven, we thank you for this time tonight. We pray that it was honoring to you. I pray that it was a good offering to you, Father, that your word was, even if in snippets, handled with correctness, Lord, and that you would instill in us the truth that you want us to hear. God, I pray that we would really be faithful.
• 37:25
  God, that we would walk in loving obedience because you have revealed, lovingly revealed yourself to us that we might know the path which is best. God, give us homes which smell good, which are attractive. Lord, which are sticky like flypaper. Give us a voice in our communities, in our neighborhoods. Father, that we might be witnesses for your name, for your glory, for your honor. We pray these things in your name. Amen.