Walking in Truth and Love Pt. 5 - Carries the Message

If you have not already, please make your way in your Bible to the book of second John. I'm going to read the whole letter real quick just to get us caught up. Walter, you should look at your clock right now. That's crazy.

It's 11:11, the second epistle. Now, when someone's new to the Christian faith, they don't know. Like when you say turn to second John, they'll turn to John chapter two, right? And you think, well, yeah, that's new Christians. The same happens if you try to Google second John.

It'll turn to. It'll to John Chapter two. But we're in the epistles, the letters of John, and we're reading the second letter. The theme of the first letter, those of first John, the theme, the main thesis I presented to you when in that letter was what a genuine Christian is or genuine Christianity is. In other words, John has given us the tests.

We can actually read that first letter and use it as an examination tool on our lives or the lives of others and ask, are we what this book says a Christian is? So that was the value of the first one. But then to mean in the first one there wasn't a lot of talk about walking in truth and being in adherence to the word of God. That was also very prevalent in that book. But now we get to the second letter.

That essentially becomes the whole theme of this book. I've entitled every sermon Walking in the Truth and Love part something or other. And so we're on the fifth part today. We're on the last part, the last couple of verses. But before I do that, I'm going to read the whole letter.

It'll go fast if you, if you're patient, to the elder, to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but all, but also all those who have known the truth because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever. 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 I rejoice. John says, I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth as we received commandment from the Father. And now I plead with you, lady, there's you can get that idea.

I'm happy some are walking in truth. And I'm pleading 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. This is love that we walk according to his commandments. There you go with the walking in love and truth. The idea is love is walking in truth, right?

This is the commandment that, as you have heard from me from the beginning, you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world who did not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and antichrist. Look to yourselves that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.

And he who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house, nor greet him. For he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. And then lastly, our verses. For today, 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 filled full.

Now it'll say our or your depends. Actually, it's not even the same in all new King James versions that there'll be some older or newer King James versions that have our or your in them, depending. The children of your elect sister greet you. Got it? So that's where we're at.

That's we're caught up. John has written this small letter, but though it's small, that does not mean it's insignificant. In fact, it packs quite a punch. It's this. It's similar to the book of Jude, isn't it?

Where Jude is a very small letter in terms of content, but man, it has a lot of oomph in it. By the way, you want to use this with your friends. You can say that sometimes you need some oomph in your try so that you. Because then you have triumph. I didn't make that up.

That's something a silly coach might say to kids, but it's a little bonus material. Whenever I say oomph, I think that you need to have some oomph in your try. Anyway, are you ready to close this letter? But more importantly, are you ready to walk this letter, this letter, even today? I will warn you in advance as I unpack this.

He's talking to children and he's going to talk to the elect lady and the elect sister. And all this family talk, family talk is all over the Bible, and I would suggest to you that you not take that for granted, especially in the day and age we live in. Where the family is in question and under attack, that family and the patriarchy or God being a father and all of those things become really important because that's the kind of language we have today. And if it's too. We said earlier that this could be an individual lady and her biological children, or it could be a church and its members.

I think today is the most conclusive evidence that it is a church. Now, I hold to that, but I hold to it loosely. I don't want to fight over it. But when we get to it, it's going to be family talk. And I suggest to you that God expects his family, to his children to act like his family and his children.

And the language that you're going to see here kind of presses that home. We're going to have some indicatives. This is one of those times where you might not see much application to you in this last couple of verses, but I'm going to make application to the point where I'm. I'm going to be sort of stretching the boundaries a little bit, meaning I'm going to be going to the edge of interpretation. I might be pushing the text a little hard in a direction.

Instead of its more obvious meaning. I'm going to give its obvious meaning, but when I start applying it, you're going to hear me make some broad applications. And I'm saying that all to you so that you know that I know it. Okay. That I know I'm not.

I'm not. I don't want to jump to those applications and the interpretation ideas that where I feel comfortable to kind of bend and mold the Scripture. No, I'm. I want to handle it correctly. But I do think the application of what we're going to see here today is a little broader.

So I'm going to talk like that. It's. There's going to be things that you're. You might be thinking, well, I'm not sure the text is saying that. That clearly.

Well, it's not saying it that clearly, but it is saying it. I believe when you have a biblical theology that has all of the New Testament content in it and you're trying to interpret individual verses in their broader New Testament context. So the things I'm going to say are biblical. And I think this text is hinting at them. At the least, it might be saying them, but it's for sure hinting at them.

I just always want to tell you that. I think. I don't think most preachers tell you if they're going farther than a text Allows. I don't think most preachers tell you if they are giving their personal opinions or biases. They just act like everything they say is the truth of God.

So I like to show my biases a little bit. I like to show if I'm kind of, you know, moving a little, getting close to the border of interpretation. I want to tell you that so that, you know, I know it. And then maybe if by example, you know, if you're doing it, if you're stretching Bible verses farther than they should go. I'm trying to lead by example, not to go farther than the Bible allows us to go, to stay within the.

In the bounds, in the bumpers. Like when you go bowling and they put up the bumpers for kids, you adults don't leave the bumpers up. Right. If you go bowling, that would be very disappointing. All right, let's pray and we'll dig into the text together.

Father, as we now open for the last time, at least for the preaching series, the book of second John, I would ask that the lessons that are there, the clear ones, we would get that regardless of any applications I might make or anything, I'm talking about where I'm keeping myself in check, that we really do get what your text says, first to its original audience and then the very clear application for all Christians. But then also, Father, there's some other things here and I think that your text applies to. And I would ask that if there are lessons there, we would get those too. And that we not invade on your word. We don't want to add to your word.

We certainly don't want to take away from it. So please help us do that. Help us handle it right and respect you and then live what this letter says, to live and walk in truth and we'll thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Well, John says having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink.

If you were ever going to make an argument that there are missing books from the Bible, this is the verse people use for that. You notice he says having many things to write to you, I did not want to write in paper name. What he means is I had more to say to you, but I didn't want to do it with paper and ink. So the question I have for you, if I was an atheist and I was, I would ask you this question, so does that mean there are missing words in the Bible now you know the answer is no, but can you defend it because he says there are words he was going to Write and didn't. And the answer to that, I'll give it to you in a moment.

But I just want you to feel a little bit of pressure. Right. It shouldn't be only the preacher having to answer such things. You should know what these kind of things mean. It.

There's a couple of ideas that this could mean. The first thing it doesn't mean is that Scripture is incomplete. Scripture is complete. We believe in the full completion of the close of the canon of the 66 books, the way we have them in our present day. They're not in the same order, by the way.

The Old Testament books would be in a different order. But for now, the fact that we have These books, these 66 canonical books, is indeed the complete Scripture. You can't add to it, you can't take away from it. It is sufficient and complete. But it is also interesting to say the least and amazing to say the most, that God, people like John, and somehow he uses the individual as an individual to get his word in scripturated, to get his word down by the Holy Spirit through that person and recorded in a way that it is both John as a person writing without John as a person diluting the word of the Holy Spirit, and what you call that is a miracle.

That's what you call it. And let me tell you, what you don't do is you don't try to make an analogy for the miracle. All the analogies you'll ever make for how God got his words onto paper and in our hands, all of them will fail. So I've heard people over the years say, well, it's like John was the pen and God was the hand that moved the pen. And the ink was that.

No, no, no, no. All of them fail. It's a miracle that God did it. We don't understand it and be man or woman enough to say there are things as a Christian, I don't understand. It's better to admit humility than it is to make up something that violates what is actually happening.

So John the man wanted to write more things to this elect lady. I think it's a church. He wanted to write more. He had more to say to her, but he didn't want to do it with paper and ink. That doesn't mean there was more scripture that he held in.

That's not what it means. Doesn't mean there were more. God breathed words that didn't get recorded. It just meant that there were words that the Holy Spirit wanted recorded, and those are the ones that got recorded. But John, as a friend and a pastor, a spiritual father to the elect lady, he I have a lot to tell you.

We have catching up to do. I want to help you when I see you, so I as a person, want to help you. But the Holy Spirit, as God, wants you to have these words that I penned. That's the idea. Now, it could be one or the other.

By the way, I might say this again later, and if I don't remember to, that's okay. But it could be when he says, I have many things to write, it might mean I have a lot more negative things to write, a lot more warning, a lot more strong instruction, a lot more exhortation. Right? Or it could more positively be like Jude when he wrote, I wanted to talk about our common salvation. It would have been great to just catch up with you and to tell you all the good things God is doing and the work of the Lord and the missions that are going on and what we, the apostles, are getting done.

And to hear a good report from you, the elect lady, that would be great. I'd love to just catch up and just. And talk all night long about how awesome God is with us. But I don't want to do that in paper and ink. I want to do that when we're together.

Got it? That's the idea. So whatever it is, it's not. Scripture is incomplete. It's not something missing.

He's just saying the things that the Holy Spirit wanted for you. That church, that lady, or us, the church broad over the centuries got recorded. So I wanted to write many things to you. And he says, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink. Again, that's important because that also tells us I used the word inscripturated earlier.

Every time I think of that word, I have a little bit of seminary PTSD because I had to write a paper in seminary and we had to remember this definition of something, a paragraph long definition. And in that definition, one of the words that was supposed to be in it was inscripturated. And I separated it into two words in scripture. And I got docked a lot, by the way. I think I only got 70% for the answer, but it was only one word I didn't get right.

And so I was mad and I went to complain to my professor, like, hey, inscripturated means it's in scripture. I was right. I was right with the meaning. He said, I didn't tell you to memorize the meaning. I told you to memorize the paragraph.

And I graded you on that. And then he also told me brilliantly, by the way, he said, you're overthinking the importance of the grade. You're too worried about grades. And he says, see, students are the best pastors. And I said, I'm going to be a good pastor.

Then, just so you know, I got all A's and B's. Okay, Just for the record, that might mean I'm not the best pastor, but he does say, I do not wish to do so with pen, paper and ink, meaning there are things that are said in person. And I'll get to that in a second. The next part I'm going to. That's the part where I'm really going to do the stretching this morning.

I might take the text pretty far, but for right now, I just want you to see, John had a desire to say many things to these people, to this lady, to the church and her children, the members. He had many things to say, and I want you to notice that he says, there's something here. This is absolutely me stretching the text. Okay, In a moment, I might be stretching it. I'm telling you right now, I might be going too far.

So don't take what I say right now as gospel. But I am going to tell you, I want you to at least notice that John did not say, I did not wish to text you or to email you or to post something on your Facebook or to interact with you online. What I'm saying is, especially in a moment when I stretch the text only a little bit, that John's best optimal first choice in communicating with Christians is face to face. Okay, that's obvious. Now.

That might not be obvious for personal conflict, for difficulties, for disrespect, for offenses. That might not be what he's talking about. He might not be. He will talk about that in the third letter, right? Because he's going to go and set diotrophes straight.

He will say it there. But I do want you to catch, for now, that he says, it is preferable for me to say the things I want to say to you in person, not in paper and ink. And I'm suggesting to you that paper and ink for us is the rectangles and the computers. And that if John were alive today, he would say, I would rather talk to you face to face than text. I've asked you this before, and I'm asking you again, always, don't ever include me in a group text.

I don't like being in group text. I'm in a group text with Just my immediate family, and that makes me uncomfortable. I don't believe in group texts. Feelings always get hurt. In group text, people misuse scripture.

In group text, people misunderstand each other. Now you got four people misunderstanding a statement and arguing about it in a group text. Tell me I'm wrong. I know that I already know I'm right. I already got a couple of amen eyeballs back there.

So I don't want to ever be in group text. And I'm telling you, yes, that's a personal preference. It is a personal preference. By the way, please don't send me email requests via text either. Two reasons.

One is I have to retype everything back on the computer, but also my eyes don't work good enough to use a phone. I don't have good enough vision to use a phone like everybody else does. So I'm not doing fun stuff on a phone or reading on a phone or that kind of thing. Earlier, you should see my font size. I just read my Bible from earlier.

It's giant. Had to scroll 100 times to read through second John because my vision isn't good. So email me prayer requests. But anyway, what I'm driving at here is communications with Christians are supposed to be in words. And yes, you could make the argument that God spoke to us in written words.

But I'll remind you that when he says in the past, he spoke to us by the prophets. In these latter days, he spoke to us by his Son, who was a person who came to Earth to communicate to the people. So I'm suggesting to you that the best way to communicate is in person. And John is saying that, at least in this case, for encouragement or whatever reason, he wants to see them. That's without question.

That gets us to this next point. I'm going to really hammer it home. But I hope to come to you and speak face to face. You could draw the conclusion that John just loves these people and wants to see them. You could absolutely draw that conclusion.

That's. That would be a completely sufficient interpretation of John saying at the end of verse 12 that I hope to come to you and speak face to face. You could absolutely make the case legitimately that John just wants to see them because he loves them. But I'm going to give you a bunch of verses, and this is the part where I'm getting to the edge of acceptable. Okay?

It's not wrong what I'm saying. So everything I'm going to tell you is not wrong. It's biblical. 100% biblical. The question Is, is that what John means here in second John?

Okay, am I pushing that meaning into second John where it doesn't belong? So I'll read a bunch of, well, paraphrase or jump, pluck a couple of thoughts out of a bunch of verses and I'll emphasize this, this point I'm trying to make. I already said that instead of text. And when I say text, I mean instead of writing. John is saying instead of writing to you the many words I have for you, I want to.

Now he's emphasizing speak them to you face to face. That is the alternative. Those are your two options. I can write them to you or I can say them to you. Right.

So now I'm going to emphasize this is the application. So this, the interpretation of this text could be John wants to see them because he loves them. The interpretation of the text could be John believes there's more to say and those things are directly for them. Maybe for safety purposes. Right?

Because we said this could be a church that's persecuted, they could be in danger. So he's saying, I'm not going to put these things in writing and get you in trouble. I'll say those when I get there with you. So it could be positive things he wants to say to them face to face, negative things he wants to say face to face. Guarded, protect, security related things he wants to say to them face to face.

Could just be flat out, hey, I love you guys, I can't wait to see you and we'll talk when I see you. Okay? Everything I just told you are the, the or the possible interpretations of this text. Those are the interpretations of this text. So every text of the Bible has one interpretation.

I'm not sure which this one is of what I just told you, but it is one of those. Okay, but all scripture, not every passage, but most scripture has multiple applications. So that even if a text gives a clear commandment, that's its interpretation, the applications can be many, manifold. So I'm going to give you what I think is an application of the text. It's where I'm going to the line.

I'll read a bunch of passages and I want to, I'll make the point. On the other side of it, John will say in his next letter, if I come, he's talking to the other, the third church. The third letter. If I come, I will call to mind his deeds, which he does, prating against us with malicious words. If I come, I will set diotrophes straight.

So is John's plan to just write it and say, this is what I want for diotrophes in my letter. Do this thing with diotrophies in my letter. Or does he say, if I come? So the idea is, even in conflict, it is preferable to be there present, or Paul will tell the Philippians, so that whether I come and see you or I am absent, I may hear of your affairs. He's talking to the.

To the Philippians that he wants to come and see them. His plan would be. His preference would be to be with the Philippians. I want to hear from you directly. Paul tells the Corinthians in his second letter.

After lots of tough things he says there. He says, I write to those who have sinned before and to all the rest that if I come, I will not spare. So Paul is saying, if I come, I'm going to handle this. We're going to put this discipline thing on the front burner if I get there because of people not wanting to listen or something like that. So Paul, again, he's emphasizing if I come, if I come, if I'm there, if I visit Galatians, that this one's tough because remember the book of Galatians.

Is Paul really rebuking those churches Strong. And he says, I would like to be present with you. Why? For a barbecue? No, he says, with you now.

And to change my tone, for I have doubts about you. Meaning I know what I'm writing is harsh and hard, and I wish I could be there right now so you could hear me and I could share my heart of love with you and I could talk to you about these errors that you're in with love and compassion so that we can have an interaction about it. I would like to be just talking with you now. You say, why is Sloan emphasizing all of this? These are apostles.

These are churches and apostles and leaders. Because I think at the core of it is that Christians are supposed to be looking to be restored with Christians. That Christians are looking. Efforting. That's the way they say it in media.

We're efforting to get our guests, efforting to have unity and. And fellowship with believers if there are problems or if there's encouragement needed or if there is just a need for fellowship. That the way you do that is close eyeball to eyeball. We used to say kneecap to kneecap. Do you know what that means?

You know what kneecap to kneecap means? It means the two of you are sitting together and your kneecaps are kneecap to kneecap where you're sitting in front of each other and this place. Is that that concept of the idea that I believe God made us communal so that we will face to face, communicate with each other, and we will be with each other in each other's lives is at the core because when you are with somebody, you can show compassion, you can show with energy that I love you and we're in this together. And tell me what I need to do so that we can be right with each other. Do I need to apologize?

Do I need to confess anything? Or hey, you've offended me and I'd really like to deal with this. That comes directly, you know, that, that if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault. And it even emphasizes between you and him alone. My goodness.

Oh, my goodness. Go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. How do you think Christians are doing with that? Ah, it's so painful. If you knew how many things get to me that don't get to the other person that should be talked to alone.

If you knew. Or you say, well, yeah, it says, if my brother, if he sins against me, I have to go to him. Right? If he sins against me, I have to go to him. But what if I sinned against him?

Well, most people don't think they're sinful. Most people think they're innocent, Right? And you say, well, so. And so has a problem with you. Yeah, that's not my problem.

It's not my problem. If you think I sinned against you, that's you being judgmental. Is that what the Bible says? No, it says if you bring your gift to the altar and find out that your brother has something against you. It doesn't say whether it's justified or not.

It just says, if your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way first be reconciled to your brother. I'm suggesting to you that Christianity is communal. It's communal. It is not individualistic. We live in an individualistic age.

We live in a time where we are all kind of doing our own thing. We're all kind of little individual churches in ourselves. I'm the church, me, and I have my vertical relationship with the Lord, and the horizontal is optional. And then we will happily say, because you don't think the way I think, I condemn you. I don't approve of you.

I don't like what you're doing. I don't agree with what you're doing. As though I have a right to approve of anyone. As though I have a right. I, a human Have a right to have expectations of you.

So you don't meet my expectations. There's a division between us. What am I supposed to do with that division? What am I supposed to do if I'm at odds with my brother? What am I supposed to do if I'm distant from my brother or sister?

I'm supposed to be fixing that and working on that. Why? Because we're the body of Christ. So John here is not talking about sin and reconciliation. That's me stretching the text.

But I'm telling you, it's a theme through the Bible that God's people connect with God's people. It's a theme. It is idiomatic of scripture. God's people connect and stay good and in unity with God's people. And if we're not, we shouldn't feel like we're okay.

This is the thing that gets me, is that people, they can say, well, I don't like what that person's doing and I don't approve of what they're doing. I don't appreciate what they're doing, but I can be alright with the Lord and think all of that. How can you disapprove of somebody that Jesus died for and think you're okay with Jesus? I don't understand that Jesus loves them, but you don't. It's scary to me, the thought that I would think negatively or poorly or sinfully about somebody that Jesus died for and loves.

Like the thought that Jesus would come and say to me, sloan, why can't. Why are you thinking that about so and so. That is a terrible thought. I tremble at the thought of that. I don't think we understand that, that we're not allowed to be against Jesus people.

We're not allowed to. We're required to be close. And this text today is not saying, I want to be close to you to fix problems. He might be saying, I want to say things to you. But for sure, this text, like the text in the next letter, like Philemon, when Paul writes to him over and over, like the Galatians, like the Corinthians over and over again.

The way to fix problems, first of all, is to fix problems, not ignore them, not dismiss them, not shirk our responsibility. It's not to send texts or emojis or to say, it's no big deal, don't even worry about it, or I'm not worried about that, or it won't do me any good anyway to go to that person and try to fix it. It's for sure not to gossip. How much energy do you spend on unity? That's the question.

Because Paul tells us in Ephesians, endeavoring, efforting energy for unity, energy. Now you might say, well, yeah, I want that, but they might not want that. What do you think I'm going to say to that? What do you think I'm going to say? If you tell me I might want unity, but the person I'm at odds with doesn't want unity?

What do you think I'm going to tell you? So what? Do it anyway. Do it because God said to do it. Let God have that result of you doing the right thing.

Don't do, don't not do the right thing because you don't think it'll be effective. Do the right thing because God said to do it. Now, what if everybody did that? What if two people who are at odds with each other. I don't like what you do.

I don't like what you say about what I do. We're at odds with each other and it won't work anyway because we don't get along when we talk. Okay, knock it off, first of all. Secondly, do what the Bible says and go to your brother with the goal of restoration. Not with the goal of you being vindicated, but with the goal of restoration.

That we are going to work together, we are going to. We are going to come together and love each other and I'm going to find out if there's areas of my life that maybe I can compromise and change. And it's not a biblical conviction I have. It's a personal preference I put on you instead of an actual conviction. And I might say, well, you know, I could have heard your words a little better instead of thinking they were harsh.

I could have probably given you more charity. And if everybody was working on that, we wouldn't have any trouble. We would get along. So John says, I want to write to you. I had lots of things to write to.

You could have been tough, could have been encouraging, but I didn't want to do it in pen and ink. I want to come and talk face to face. And that face to face, most likely for this lady in this church, would have been positive. Happy times. I heard some of your children walking in truth.

That gives me every indication that they were doing the right thing. All of that wraps up very nicely at the end of the verse when John says, why do I want this? Why do I? Why would I, instead of writing to you and avoiding personal interaction, face to face interaction, why would I prefer to be with You, I've already told you, beware. I'm pleading with you.

He already said that in this book. I plead with you. I plead with you to love one another. I plead with you. There are many deceivers out there.

There are many people who would try to destroy what we have in Christ. There are many people who want to undermine the Christian faith. There are many people that make priorities in the Christian faith different than God's priorities. And they say this is the most important thing when it's not the most important thing. All of these things are happening out there.

John is saying something like that. And he's saying, but not you. You obey God's commandments. You walk in the commandments. You walk in the truth.

The evidence that you walk in the truth is that you love one another. This is not a new commandment. This is what I've been telling you the whole time. This is John's thing. This is John's jam to say love one another.

He loves saying it. So I'm telling you, love one another. Put aside differences. Put aside anything, any personal agendas. Put aside any personal preferences.

Put aside any expectations where you think anybody owes you anything. Put all that aside. Join together with my people. Be strong. Strong in unity in the Lord and press on toward the mark.

Man, I want to tell you this 50 times more. But you know what we'll talk about when I get there. That's what I think has been said up to this point. But what I'm telling you now, so that we're clear and we have no question what his motive is. He says it why, with the purpose of.

With the goal of the target, that your joy may be full. You probably want to sing that right now, don't you? The kids are in their heart singing, this is my right. But how can your joy be full when there's unity, there's obedience, when there's denial of people that deny Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, when they're standing for truth, when they're walking in the commandments. You're only supposed to have joy.

What brought John joy. He said it in this letter. He's going to say it again. What brings John the Apostle joy when he says, I'm coming to you with the purpose of bringing more words that I have for you because I love you. You're my spiritual children.

I want to talk to you when I get there. We're going to have a great conversation when I get there. And instead of you having any difficulties or troubles, I you we're going to we're going to. If there's any trouble, we're going to work it all out. And the end goal is not.

I'm going to use the word. The end goal is not fellowship. Unless you define fellowship biblically. And fellowship biblically is not a barbecue and iced tea. There could be barbecues and iced tea at a fellowship, but the barbecue and iced tea do not make it a fellowship.

Being in the same room with someone does not mean you have communion with them. So I'm suggesting to you that in order for us to have the joy of the Lord, the things in this book have to be lived out first. Because he says the purpose of what he's saying and what he's doing. And so that when I come and talk to you face to face, the end goal is I want you to have joy, not happiness. Happiness is circumstantial.

Happiness is when you get a raise at work. Happiness is when you get a new car. Or happiness is when somebody likes something that you do and it gives you a compliment. That's happiness. Joy is dispositional.

Joy is something you can have in the worst times. When the circumstances are at their worst, you can still have joy. It'll look different than happiness. You're not going to be doing cartwheels and sunshine and rainbows, but you can still know God is in control. I'm so thankful.

I rejoice that God is in control. I rejoice that even though, like, this church might be persecuted, I rejoice that even though it's hard in this world to follow the Lord, I rejoice. Why would I be able to rejoice in persecution? Why? Because John told me I put away the false doctrine.

And that means I'm walking in the truth. How do I know I can have joy? Because I am walking in the truth and loving the brethren. My proof of that is my obedience to the commandments. I'm loving people.

I'm loving one another. And then I know if John comes, he's only going to say good things to me. Not because I'm proud or arrogant, but because I've been doing the things that John told us we should be doing. I'm walking in truth. I'm walking in love.

I'm careful with false doctrine. I'm faithful and obedient to God's gathering. I'm doing everything I can so that when John comes to bring the more words he wish he could have said, those words for me are going to be man. You did good, man. You cared about these things.

You cared about God's things. You were faithful. You were busy. You served the Lord. You shared the gospel, you prayed for the sick.

You served your church. Man, I'm so thankful I'm here to see this with you. Now John would say, I'm with you right now. We're going to have true communion. And the communion is in the Lord and what the Lord is doing.

And it's okay to have barbecues. It's okay. But I'm suggesting to you that there's something richer than good food and maybe a baseball game or something. There's something richer that when you do it correctly. And by the way, this could be right now, like, when we're done with this service, you can do this thing and be face to face with each other and look each other in the eye and say, like Austin always does to me, is there anything you need prayer for?

He asks me all the time, I love it so much. Or Alexander texts me almost every Friday, what do you need for this weekend? That's what John is talking about. And you say, wait, he texts you? He says it to me in person, too.

And it's definitely not negative texts. And then not talk to me in person. That's what I'm talking about. That idea that I'm looking at you face to face and we are in this together. And John comes along and says, if I'm there, I'm talking to you.

If I'm talking to you, I'm telling you that things that need adjustment, for sure. But let's go positive in this text that I can encourage you and I can strengthen you. I can tell you what's going on in the church out there worldwide. I can tell you that your faithfulness is encouraging other people. I can tell you you're not the only one going through what you're going through.

And you can be strong in the Lord. And then what is supposed to be the result or the reaction from Christians to that? Joy. Joy. Rejoicing.

I'm so grateful. Yes, I don't feel very good. I have physical trouble in my personal life, and I have bumped heads with some Christians, but we're working on it. And I have been having a difficult time being faithful in my attendance to church and activity in church and service in church. All that's true.

But I'm trying really hard. And John says, if I'm making the effort, putting some oomph in my try, then I can have joy. I'm thankful that I am serving the Lord. Then the final greeting that closes the letter. The children of Your elect sister greet you.

Amen. I'll talk about the amen in a second. Whether this is an individual or a church. And by the way, you'll notice, I think it says the children of your elect sister greet you. There could be first persons or singulars here.

You might see our. Or you might see us or something like that. Whatever the language is, the U is plural, and that's important. That's. That's one of the biggest evidences that it's to a church rather than an individual.

Right. So the you being plural. But whatever it is, I can tell you that you see that it isn't just the local church that's supposed to have fellowship. It's Christians that are serving in various places that are supposed to be having fellowship. They're supposed to be on each other's team and thinking of each other.

And this is one of my favorite passages, when Peter says that. That resist him, the devil. Resist the devil, steadfast in faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. We're going to talk about that on Wednesday night, I think in our series on trusting God. We're going to talk about the idea of, why does it make me feel better if you went through the same terrible garbage I did?

We're going to talk about that. Because shouldn't I hate that you went through that terrible garbage? Then why am I comforted by it? There's something to that, something to do that. We're going to talk about that Wednesday.

Greet one another with the holy kiss. Karen was here last week, Prescott. She. She remembered this story because I gave her a hug. And I always, you all know that I'm not a hugger.

So I told her, hey, don't you know I'm ruining my reputation here by giving you a hug? And she. She reminded me of that time Mickey kissed me on the cheek. Because I had preached this text and said, this is cultural. I don't want anybody kissing me after service, right?

And Mickey Bear hugged me back there and kissed me on the cheek. He's in heaven now. You know, you all remember Mickey. He kissed me. And I. I jokingly said, man, I'm glad there was no photographic evidence that that happened.

And then he grabbed me again and he said, somebody get your camera. And then he kissed me and made somebody take a picture of it. So he kissed me on the cheek. And Karen reminded me of that. Like, hey, I'm trying to keep that quiet, you know, but I miss Mickey.

He's a sweetheart. But. But that that idea of a holy kiss, that idea of a greeting, that idea of my friend bear hugging me, Right? That, that idea that, that we're close and we have fellowship. So when, when John says, the children of your elect sister, I think that is the members of the other churches or another church.

Like, they're thinking of you too. Like, hey, ladies, you're all doing really good. Hey kids, you're all doing really good. And he's winking, you know, hey, ladies, churches, you're all doing great. Hey kids, members, you're doing great.

They're saying hi to you, they're greeting you. And remember, greeting is bigger in the Middle east than it is here. A greeting is not a mere formality. He means it with front. Like, the idea is they are.

They're sending their very best to you. They're undergirding you and supporting you with their love and support. So the greeting is strong. You might think, well, hey, pj, you got a little time left. How come you don't dig in to the elect?

Isn't that this is your chance to talk about election. Except for this isn't about Calvinism. It's about a called out church, a group of people, okay? That's what it's about. So you don't have to push doctrine into passages.

It's there. They were definitely chosen by God. But here the emphasis is way more on the chosenness than the time of when it happened. And the idea that this group of people were chosen to be a church. So, yeah, I'll talk a little more about that in the afternoon service, too.

Timothy greets the Romans, Paul tells them, Paul tells the Philippians. All the saints greet you. I think maybe what I'm digging at, we talked about this in Sunday school too, is I get discouraged when people drift from the church. It happens so often. And then I get more discouraged.

And this might bother you that I'm going to say this and it's okay if it bothers you, it's okay. But if I'm the first person you're asking where someone is suggesting, you should have asked them first. Okay, I'm suggesting that it's okay to ask me because it is true that I might know things you don't know, like they might be sick or something. That's very true. But it would not hurt you to ask them first.

Nobody's going to be like, you're not going to hear me say, hey, why did you ask them where they were before you asked me where they were. Never going to say that if you Tell me. I try to get a hold of them and I couldn't. Do you know, if they're okay? I'm going to tell you what I think.

So I'm saying that to you because I believe what John is driving at here. And this idea of greeting one another and this idea of connection has the idea that the whole church takes responsibility for it, not just the office, not just the pastor, that everybody's looking out for everybody. And usually the pastor is just one guy anyway. And it does help. I'm telling you, it helps.

I get reports like Marcia giving me reports on Valerie and stuff. Those things are so helpful to me. So helpful. Because we're looking out for each other, talking to each other, amongst ourselves, right? So there's something to that.

And I will also tell you, bigger picture. Not just individual items, people hurting, people in need of prayer, people in need of looking after, but also bigger picture. You can't do any of what I just said on YouTube or TikTok. How do you want another on TikTok? How do you ask how someone's doing in a.

Whatever, however many character tweet? I know there's no limits to X anymore, but, like, how are we expected to actually meaningfully help somebody through a little bit of text? Or can we learn from John and say, I don't want to write in pen and ink or digital or binary code. I'd rather check in on somebody, maybe give them a call so they can hear the tone of my voice. Maybe get coffee with them and encourage them not sit around and complain, but encourage.

What can we do for the Lord? People get busy and start drifting. I'm not going to say. What I'm about to say is a fact all the time. You know the sec, the Security and Exchange Commission, they regulate investments and mutual funds and stocks and all that.

The SEC has a rule that you have to say in your literature when you're marketing investments. You've heard this before. You've heard it in commercials. In fact, I'll say it and you finish it. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

You know it, right? So it's not always the case that the past predicts the future. But I am going to tell you, I wouldn't even try to count. But I'm sure I always say you could count on a shop teacher's hand because they might be missing.

You can count on a shop teacher's hand the exceptions that I personally have seen to what I'm about to tell you. So it's not me being negative. It's not me complaining, it's not me judging. But when I see people not connected to the body of believers, not connected. Imagine that the elect Sister or this.

There was a person who could have been at church the day this letter was read, and they weren't there that day. They just chose to go fishing instead. And they didn't hear all of this warning and encouragement. Right. I see it over and over again that when people start in the faith, they start with tons of energy.

They're all in. They come to every service, they're knocking on the door before it's unlocked. They're asking all the things they can do. I could tell you so many stories. They might even be busy.

They come to the fellowships, they're involved, they give handsomely with their offerings, they get their kids into everything. But then over time, life gets busy, we start seeing them less and less and less, and the drift happens. And this is the part where you say, but yeah, that's because maybe they're not getting what they need at your church, so they need to go somewhere else. I would agree with you. If the evidence was that they were somewhere else serving the Lord, if that was the evidence that they were somewhere else serving the Lord, I would tell you, I agree with you.

But what I so often see is just a holding pattern of people who, serving anywhere, who attend sporadically wherever they attend, who have seasons of drought. I'll say it again. You never drift toward the Lord. No one ever drifts toward the Lord. We always drift away.

And one way we can fight that is fellowship. The elect, the chosen ones, being chosen together, being churches, being Christians, looking out for each other, praying for each other, caring about each other, being faithful, being active, being involved, not just a peripheral person. Like I said, I'm going to be talking about service. In fact, you're going to be hearing more and more about service at our church. There are things that have been in the works behind the scenes that we've been talking about, things that we might do to encourage engagement.

And I'm challenging you, especially with this kind of message, to engage. Now, the last thing is, does the book end there or not? Because a lot of your. If you have the esv, it doesn't say Amen at the end. And if you have a King James or new King James, it ends with Amen.

And I wish. Maybe I shouldn't tell you because you might be saying, sloan, that's not what you get paid for. How much time I spent on that one word in this one book, and I got Very frustrated in my studies because there is biases in textual criticism, lots of them, lots of biases. And what manuscripts are better and what translations are best. And there's a lot of opinion in that.

And in order for me to practice what I preach and have fellowship with other Christians the way John is telling me to, I can't complain right now, but I want to complain right now. So I want to tell you right now what I think of translations that don't have Amen in them. I really want to tell you, but then I would have to talk about those translators. And then I have to tell them I haven't talked to them personally and aired my grievances one on one with them. So what I'll just tell you is, hey, John, Amen.

I agree. And just like you ended Revelation with the same word, with the same number of manuscripts, I believe it belongs here too. So I'm not going to pick on the translations, missing it. I'm not going to say they're heretical. I'm not going to say, boy, I'd love to talk to those guys.

I'm going to tell you flat out, I believe the book ends with Amen. It is true. I affirm what I've told you. You know how we hear in the political ads, I approved this message. That's something like what John is doing here.

Listen, everything I told you, everything I told you about, I'm so thankful to hear some of your children are walking in truth, it wasn't a new commandment I gave you. Same old commandment that we love the Father and we love by keeping commandments, right? This is how we know we love him. By keeping commandments, by loving each other, by loving God. We understand that's what it means to keep commandments.

But just so you know, I'm pleading with you to be careful because there are deceivers out there who don't even believe Jesus came in the flesh. So they're not even following the real Jesus. So watch out for that. Be careful, don't fall for it. And then he closes the letter by saying, man, I have a lot to tell you.

But I'll tell you that if I come, the things that God wanted you to get, an inspired scripture you got, and now you have it. And if I come to you, we'll talk so that your joy would be full. Because that's what I want for you to have. Joy in the Lord, joy in the truth, joy that your walk is a walk of the Lord and you're with God's people. You're in the ministry with the elect, sister.

You're in the ministry with each other. He said that at the beginning. Not just me, but all those who love the truth and know the truth, that you're on the team. You're on Team Truth. And because you're on Team Truth, I say true.

Amen. It's true. That's what the word means. So be it. Let's pray.

Father, help us walk in truth and love. Help us not make the mistake of separating those. Help us keep them directly connected. We can't say we love you without keeping your commandments or your people. So help us do that.

But also, Father, there's lots of error. There's lots of temptation to be on our own, to be sort of satellite Christians and doing our own thing. And your word makes it clear that we're communal. We're supposed to be serving each other. Not just getting, but giving.

Would you help us think that way, how we could pray for each other and serve each other and evangelize and do the things we're supposed to do and be involved in kingdom building. Would you help us with that, please? We ask it in Jesus name. Amen.