“The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, 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 will 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, 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 love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
“Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works” (2 John 1:1-11 ESV).
I believe these words are for the church, probably this was a house church, but they apply to us, as well. John begins by talking much about the truth, and so I am going to do that a little more specifically here. For the truth of the gospel he is speaking of is the one he taught, that Jesus taught, that Paul taught, and the other NT apostles taught. And basically it is that Jesus died on that cross so that we will now die to sin and live to righteousness.
Now he rejoiced that some of this lady’s children were walking in the truth. They could have been the physical children of a physical lady, or he could be speaking of spiritual children within the gathering of this church who had professed faith in Jesus Christ. Only some of them were walking in the truth, which is our situation yet today where so many who profess faith in Christ are not actually walking in the truth of the gospel, but still in sin.
But there is no greater joy than to see that your children, or your grandchildren, or those who profess faith in Jesus Christ literally walking in obedience to the Lord in holy living, obeying his commandments (New Covenant) and no longer walking in sin. Amen to that!! For so many who profess faith in Jesus Christ today are not walking in the truth, but they are still walking in sin, and many of them are being given the Okay to do so.
So the encouragement here is that we are to love one another with this agape love which prefers to live through Christ, obeying his choices, in his power and strength, and which prefers what God prefers, which is what is holy, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to the Lord and to his commands (New Covenant). Then we won’t commit adultery, tell lies, be deceptive, be unfaithful, and practice immorality, i.e. sin.
And we are to watch out for the deceivers who are pulling Scriptures out of their context to make them say what they do not teach, in context, which they do to lead people astray from the truth of the gospel to follow after the lies of man. And many of these liars are telling Christians and prospective believers in Christ that they don’t have to repent of their sins, they don’t have to obey God, and that no works are required of them. That’s a lie!
For if we do not abide in the teachings of Christ, if we do not put them into practice in our daily lives, but we walk in the ways of the flesh and of the world, instead, in living in sexual immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, committing adultery, and being unfaithful, etc., the Scriptures teach that we do not know God, we are not in fellowship with Christ, and we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess.
Now, as the body of Christ, we are not to welcome these liars and deceivers into our gatherings to where they can come in among us and infect the body with their lies. But so many gatherings of what are called “churches” are doing that. For the liars and the lies abound! So many are now teaching the opposite of what Jesus and his NT apostles taught. And if we read what they taught in context, we would see that they are lies, and not the truth.
So we need to be discerners of truth and lies, and the only way we can do this is if we are following our Lord in obedience, and if we are listening to and obeying the voice of God, and if we are students of the Scriptures who are studying them in their context. And then we need to be those who are spreading the truth to others and who are refuting the lies of these people in their deceitful scheming, for so many people are following the lies.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Video Talk
https://youtu.be/hnOgX0_x0qY
Caution: This link may contain ads
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
Caution: This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment