Friday, July 26, 2013

2 John - Part 2

1A] God’s People are Filled Up with Truth!  We learned Truth is important, and God is truth!  Now onto part 2 - notice from the text…

2A] God’s People ENCOURAGE others with LOVE. (vv.4-5)  Notice from the text:  I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking  in the truth just as we were commanded by the Father…”  Stop there - Question - Do you know one of the exciting things about seeing you all each week?  Every Sunday I am so blessed as I think about each of you and how you are growing and how I watch you worship Jesus, (the real reason we are here).  I get so pumped up about what God is doing in you, through the truth.  That what John is saying here - When I hear about you and your children, Your Church and its people - I am fired up!  And like John, I love to hear what God is doing in and through you; to see you praying with others and to watch victory in the truth come out of your lives! Keep pressing on in your walk with Christ!
            Then he continues: “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 on another…” Love!  The Love from God that we have for each other - it is what encourages and blesses us as well as others.  I tweeted this week, “Love has always been the single outstanding Characteristic of Jesus and his followers.”  (John 13:35 - “This is how they will know that you are my disciples, if you LOVE one another.”)  So let me ask you - Do you know what Christian Love is?  Is it feelings? Is it emotions?  Well it can be, but I think it is bigger than that…look here, don’t miss this…Christian Love is the act of the will that causes us to treat people the way God has treated you. Whoa - DOESN’T that blow your mind - Mind blown!        Now, for a moment, think about God’s love. If it were emotionally based we wouldn’t have a chance. We would have all been destroyed long ago.  He would have been like Zeus, or Buddha - unknowable, distant and withdrawn.  If it were based on feelings, we would have never known him in our sinful state. But God’s love came to us and drew us to himself and freely gave of himself at Calvary.  Again - Mind blown.  Now John reminds them - this isn’t a new command, but one you should know.  This isn’t based on looks, or feelings, or even emotion, but this is an act of your will.  LISTEN - We may not feel like we should love a person, but we must.  We can’t will our affections - (feelings and emotions) but we can will our attitudes and actions.  HOW NATE? Here is this example - if you want to be rude - try being kind.  Or, if you want to persecute them, yell at them, argue with them, or poke fun at them - pray for them and do good to them.  This is what Paul says in Romans 12.

Marks of the True Christian
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

            Did you see how we are to respond in Love?  Have genuine love (v.9); Have love that is outdoing one another (v.10); Bless those who persecute you (v.14); Live at peace with all men (v. 18); and Love doesn’t act on emotion, but does just the opposite.  See it, “If your enemy is hungry/thirsty give him something to eat or drink”  WHO DOES THAT - People of the Truth, God’s people!
            Now, think about it - won’t that just blow someone away.  You may not be emotionally attached, but I can say without a doubt, you will feel better and they will be floored. 
Illustration: Let me finish with this story? I love the discipleship process.  Seeing someone who has just come to Jesus and seeing the lights come on.  Several years ago I had the privilege to work one on one with a young man.  We spent many months growing him in the faith. I bought many lunches, and ordered many pizzas as we worked through issues in his life.  Now our family was moving away.  I thought I could trust him to watch a few things of mine, important things.  I know you can see what is coming, so I’ll just say it - it didn’t end well.  On a return visit to my old stomping grounds and after months of silence, who do you think showed up?  Yes there was a lot of hurt there, but what are you suppose to do?  We are commanded to Love one another.  So I did what Romans 12 said - I grabbed 3 slices of pizza and a root beer and headed in.  Did it fix the issue? NO.  Did he admit the wrong?  NO.  Was anything resolved about the hurt that was dealt? NO!  So, what was the result?  OK, as a Christian - one of God’s people - I have to love one another - and I have to tell you, to get down and dirty and involved in the process makes me feel better.  Also, to those teenage eyes that were watching me - I showed them what love is supposed to do, even when it hurts.  And finally, I have left the door open for a time when we can address the issue. 

God’s people - They are people that show other people LOVE!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

2 John Part 1


First - I will confess my complete failure to upkeep my blog spot.  Hopefully you will find it in your blog readers heart to forgive me.  Thank you! Now with that being said, I want to update my blog with my notes from Sunday's Message on 2 John.  This is a great book that we need to pay attention to.  I hope to update every other day with another point for you to be re-learning.  I Love You HBC Cambridge - lets grow in this together - Enjoy!

From My notes - Greatest Scripture Never Told - 2 John 
Introduction
  • History of the Book - Written by John to a church or personally to a lady, or to both.  John is the last apostle alive  He has been in prison once already; Rome had tried to burn him, but the fire wouldn’t go, so they tried to poison him but it didn’t work.  They banished John to an Island called Patmos, but now he his back.   
  • The Reason - John is passionate about the Lord Jesus, about his people, (pastor of the church in Ephesus) and about the truth about his friend and savior, Jesus Christ.  He now writes what we would call a letter, or better yet, a post card to 1) uplift, and encourage the readers; 2) to instruct them and 3) to warn them of the potential dangers that may come their way - 
1A] God’s people are FILLED UP with truth. (vv. 1-3)
Notice from the text:  The elder (John) 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… Did you see it there? There was a key word said 4x’s - what was it - TRUTH! Right. Now key in v.2 “because of the Truth that ABIDES in us and will be forever…  Abide = TO REMIAN, to PERSIST in.  WOW, That sounds awesome, but one question -What is Truth?
Truth in this case equals “reality” or “ultimate reality”; “it’s the basis of all we see, feel and know…”  In the scriptures it’s further described as:  Jesus - John 14:6, “I am the Way, the TRUTH and the LIFE.  What is reality here - Jesus.  John 17:7 - God’s word is called Truth.  Sanctify them in the Truth, your word is Truth…” John 14:17. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth.I will ask my Father to give you the Spirit of Truth…” who will help us know what is the truth. “…He will guide you into all truth…” John 16:13

John MacArthur, in his commentary on 2 John said this, and I quote:
"The Bible, the Word of Truth, (Ps. 119:160; John 17:17; 2 Cor. 6:7; 2 Tim. 2:15; James 1:18), majors on the theme of truth. God is the "God of truth (2 Sam. 7:28; Num. 23:19; Titus 1:2), who abounds in truth (Exodus 34:6) and always speaks the truth (John 8:45-46).  Christ is the truth (Jn. 14:6; Eph. 4:21), is full of truth (Jn. 1:14), revealed the truth (Jn 1:17), spoke the truth (Jn. 8:45-46), and testified to the truth (Jn. 18:37).  The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth (Jn. 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1Jn. 5:6).  God's TRUTH is eternal (Ps. 117:2), infinite (Ps. 57:10; 86:15; 108:4 and saving (Ps. 69:13).  Salvation comes from faith in the truth (2 Thes. 2:13); beleivers are sanctified by the truth (Jn. 17:17); love the truth (2 Thess. 2:10); are set free by the truth (Jn. 8:32); worship in the truth (John 4:23-24); rejoice in the truth (1 Cor. 13:6); speak the truth (Eph. 4:15, 25); meditate on the truth; manifest the truth; obey the truth; are guided by the truth and most comprehensively, walk in the truth (1 Kings 2:4; 3:6; 2 Kins 20:3; Pss 26:3; 86:11).
Believers must be committed to the truth, because we exist in the world which is the realm of Satan (1Jn. 5:19), the father of lies (Jn. 8:44).  He (Satan) strives to keep sinners from understanding and believing the truth; he is "the god of this world who has blinded the minds of th unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4).  As a result, "Everyone deceives his neighbor and does not speak the truth, they have taught their tongue to speak lies" (Jer. 9:5).  Unbelievers are "men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth" (1 Tim. 6:5), who "oppose the truth" (2 Tim. 3:8) and "turn away their ears from the truth" (2 Tim. 4:4) because "they exchanged the truth of God for a lie" (Rm. 1:25)
           
 You say, “well, duh?!” (go ahead - well duh?!)-what else is there to trust in besides truth?  I’m glad you ask -

Top five answers on the board - top deceiver that block the truth - here we go:
#5) Strength - that is to say - Larger is better so these folks must be right, right?  How can so many people be so wrong?  Well the Bible has a lot to say about following the crowd vs. following the truth, namely - Broad is the road that leads to destruction, but narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life.  Bigger isn’t always better.
#4) Nothing- Trust Me, Nothing is something!  Especially with People who are usually hurt or angry or bitter.  They hate you, they hate everyone, and they trust nothing.  Usually they say something like: “well you believe what you believe and I’ll believe what I believe…”  But here’s the rub…they don’t know what they believe.
#3) An Ideal:  Something like Reason or Science or the Goodness of Man.  They tend to believe grandiose ideas that only truly benefit them and not the world as a whole.
#2) Someone/Something Else:  Modern Day Movements like the Mormons or Moonies, the Muslims or the Hindu’s all trust in a man.  They trust the wisdom of a finite sinner or sunnie or dali-lama, vs the Truth of God and his word.  They are drawn in by their senses - they can see this person, touch them, hear them and less faith is needed.  Everything seems so right and so real - until it all goes wrong.  History is full of cult leaders who destroyed lives and ruined families all for their own glory…more on that in a moment.
#1) Who do we trust more than truth - Themselves!  I am the captain of my own fate.  I am the master of my soul.  I exist for me and for my pleasure.
            Here it is - John is saying - Truth is what God has revealed about Himself - Creation, The Law, the OT - Truth is in particular what He has revealed about the ultimate reality of his plan - The Gospel. And most importantly, Truth is found only in Jesus Christ.    
            Now quickly, before we move on, notice the benefits of Truth:  Grace, mercy and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, IN TRUTH and love…  Grace = Favor, undeserved favor; Mercy = is a combo of Love and pity that seeks the best for its object; and Peace = Wholeness (Shalom) Wholeness physically, mentally, and spiritually.   
     Where is it from?  1) God the Father 2) Jesus Christ.  But don’t missand from”.  Those two words will come into play later, but are extremely important here for the sake of the deity of Jesus.  John is saying  that this is from God and from one on the same level, equal to God, worthy of worship and praise - Jesus.   This is a statement of his Trinity.
God's People are FILLED UP with Truth - Are you?

Friday - "God's People Encourage others with LOVE"