Welcome to these profound messages from God's Word. This is a series that I'm doing, Bible readings with Dr. Jim. I'm not going into extreme depth in these books, but I'm letting you hear them with my imperfect reading and trying to give you an idea of what they really mean. And these are profound messages from 2 and 3 John. We did 1 John the other day. Now, my title of these two books, it is The Boundary Which Truth Draws, and I use an old accent because I know what it means, and you will now. Don't just hunt with any dog that barks. Don't just hunt with any dog that barks. We can use this in applying this in marriage. Don't just go out with any boy that'll go with you or out with any girl that'll go with you. He seems really nice and all this kind of stuff, we can apply it to that. Working for somebody, don't just hunt with any dog that barks. Try to find the job where you will be appreciated and that you will enjoy what you're doing. And now down to the real point here. Don't just hunt with any dog that barks. I used to hunt lions and bear and raccoons and bobcats with dogs. And I had one good dog in my life. One good dog. And that dog came to me as a gift. I had a boy that I had gone to school with. He worked for a welding company. And when I was a welder out at Sunland Refinery, I did everything there. I worked in chemistry and the chemistry lab, mechanic and operator, welder, whatever. But anyway, Weldon came in one day and he said, I've got a dog that this, my wife makes me go and get rid of. It is a good blooded coon dog, but he's a puppy. He's only about six months old, but he barks at nighttime and keeps my wife up. And she told me that I gotta get rid of him. And so I said, well, I'm looking for a good coon dog. He said, well, I'll give him to you. And so he brought him to my house one night. And he was a walker. a tree and walker, and a black and tan cross. It looked like a pure walker. I called him sooner. It was the best dog I ever owned. I took him through the woods with a friend of mine, and we went up and we trued the coon just right away. And he told me, he said, you're a liar. I said, what do you mean? He said, where did you buy that dog? Who trained this dog? And I said, that's the first time that dog's been in the woods. He said, no way that dog could come in the woods and tree and run a track like that dog does. He said, that dog's been trained. He said, now tell me it's true. I said, I got him from Weldon Larson out there, and the welding company gave him to me. And I said, he'd never been in the woods before. He said, that dog acts like a dog's been trained for two or three years. I said, he's only about eight months old. He's just a pup. Every time we hunted with that dog and his dog, my dog would outperform his dog, which was five years old and been in the woods five years. Well, I hunted with several different people. And the old adage, don't hunt with just anybody's dog that barks. I went hunting with this one fella and the dogs got to chasing cattle. And they got to chasing deer. That's trash. Trash game. You don't want to chase somebody's cows. You don't want to chase deer with a dog. It's something you don't do. And they got after skunks. Things that we didn't want to go after. So you can ruin a good dog just hunting with somebody's dog that's no good because they'll ruin your dog. They'll take a good dog and run it. For an example, one time, I had got a dog from an old dog trader named Wade Lawson. And he was kind of a scoundrel. He told me this dog was really a good dog. He was a great big black and tan and looked like it was part pit bull or masters or something. He was a gigantic, tremendous dog. Went up and turned him out on coons and they'd run. He did all right. He'd just crush a dog with his power or crush a bobcat or a coon. Just crush it, kill it. Just, boom, like that. He was so strong. One time I was on Kenneth Maven's land on Rattlesnake grade or Greenhorn Mountain down the lower part of it. Marilyn's been there with me, you've seen where this was. There was about a 200 pound, 220 pound male lion attacking, just about to attack the calf and we spotted him. And we turned our dogs out on this big tom lion. And Again, that was a period of time when I, my dad had taken my Colt Woodsman pistol. Gone was my good pistol. All I had was a .38 Colt Lightning and I had some real light .38 Colt, .38 Long Colts, what they called them. But I had some light bullets in it because I'd been shooting the coons and just popping them and it was just hit them real hard and they'd jump out of the tree. Well, we turned down on this lion and this dog. My dog went after that lion. He's a big old pup. But he went right after that lion. They retreated that lion up on a pile of rocks. And I got up there, and here I am with this pistol. And Rex and Brenda are with me. And Braxton Brenda Davis. And I'm going up there and here are the dogs and this lion is up there and he's swinging at the dogs. With those great big paws. These paws are like that big around. I got up there and my dog got out there on that rock and chased that lion off on top of me. And the lion hit me and knocked me down and took off running. This bad trash dog that I had got from this Wade Lawson took off after the cow. It got the dogs after the cow instead of after the lion. Don't hunt with just any dog that barks. Likely got us in trouble up there chasing Kenneth Maven's cattle instead of killing that lion that was after his cattle. Anyway, we did get the lion later, but not with that dog. Don't hunt with just anybody's dog that barks. Now, that's basically what John is telling us here in 2 and 3 John. The boundaries which truth draws. The boundaries which truth draws. Now, these letters were written around 85 to 95 AD, somewhere around there. The first epistle is written to a church. And the second epistle is written to a church through a, probably a leader in that church by the name of Gaius. And there are three basically important figures here. The church, Gaius, Gaius comes from the Latin word, Goderay. Goderay, which means to be happy or to be gay or festival. That's what gayest means. Now, Deotrophes is a character that John doesn't even want to be in the same room with. And then we have a night man by the name of Demas or Demetrius. Demetrius is probably the one carrying the letters. So he's a good guy. We got a bad guy. the atrophies. We've got a good guy, Gaius, and we've got a good guy, John, writing to them. Now let's start out here in 2 John, and we're going to talk about the acts of the apostates too, the acts of the apostates. Remember, don't hunt with just any dog that barks. the elder to the chosen lady to the elect lady and her children. We're talking, this is a church here now. Now John is in Asia Minor, he's in the Ephesian church, pastor there, and he's trying to have a wonderful effect on all the churches around him, leading them in truth. Now they say John lived to be 130-something years old, according to tradition. that he died in Corinth and that he took care of Jesus' mother and Mary was buried, Jesus' mother was buried in Ephesus also. The elder to the chosen lady and other to the church and her children, whom I love in truth and not only I but also all who know the truth. For the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever. Truth is eternal. Truth is not something that is transient. Truth is solid, it is stable, it is foundational, and it is forever. Always Jesus Christ will be God's Son. Always Jesus Christ will be Jehovah in the flesh. These are eternal truths. Jesus Christ died for the sins of all man according to 1 John 2 and 2. Not only for the elect but also for all the world. Jesus Christ died for every man that was ever born in this world. That's what we call universal atonement. Now don't get that mixed up saying that it is universalist. The atonement is only applicable to those that make it efficacious. by repenting and calling upon God to save them. Every little child that has ever been aborted, every little child that died before the age of accountability is under that atonement. Hilasmos or last atonement, or in the Hebrew, gafar. Jesus is our goel, he is our kinsman, redeemer. All of these things John emphasizes, that he is the eternal God, Jehovah, that he always existed, before he became flesh, John 1, 14. Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and in love. Now, they had problems with the Gnostics. The Gnostics said they had superior knowledge of all of everybody else, but they said Jesus did not really come into flesh. God didn't come into flesh. That didn't happen. Jesus was like a spirit. He never died on the cross at Calvary, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It was all an illusion, so to speak. I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father. Now I ask you, lady, this lady here is addressing to her, And it means the church. Elect Lady. Not as writing to a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning that we love one another. We're supposed to love those that love the truth like we love the truth. But there are boundaries which the truth draws. And this is love that we walk according to as a commandment. This is the commandment, just as we have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, and those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh. Jesus Christ came in the flesh. He was born of Mary. The Holy Spirit, the whole Trinity was His Father, so to speak. God begat Himself through the womb of Mary. He said, these people that don't say that Jesus Christ came in the flesh and is the eternal God are deceivers and they're an anti-Christ. Mohammed is an anti-Christ. Joseph Smith was an anti-Christ. Charles Taze Russell, Judd Rutherford were anti-Christ. Watch yourself that you might not lose that which you have accomplished, but that you may receive the full A full reward. That church, every church receives a reward and the churches are made up of people. Churches have to be on the guard all the time. You have to be educated in God's Word. You have to be on the guard. Know heresy and know what it is. When you see a counterfeit, when you see heresy coming in the church, stop it now. Then. don't let it in what we call infect the church. I remember one time I preached at a church quite a while and anyway they didn't call me as pastor and I always preach like I do. I always preach and exemplify Jesus Christ the son of God Jehovah in the flesh. A man went into that church and became a Bible teacher in that church, and he was a former Jehovah Witness, but he brought his Jehovah Witness doctrine in the church. That's heresy. And they didn't have enough Bible foundation to guard themselves. Many people left the church. Many people left the church. a small, a very large, just busting out the walls, hardly, standing room only in services. But when that man came, he spread the church. He was a ravenous wolf in the church. And many did not realize that. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. The Jehovah Witnesses want the Father, but they don't want the Son. They don't want Jehovah the Son. They say they're Jehovah Witnesses, but they don't believe in Jehovah as the Son of God. The Muslim faith, the confession of the Muslim faith, there is no God but Allah, and he has no companion. In other words, he has no son. And Muhammad is his messenger. That's blasphemy. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, into your church. Don't let him come in. Don't hunt with just any dog that barks. You can't have this. I remember a long time ago, many churches, when somebody new got into church, they got saved, they made them a deacon right away. And boy, did they have some problems. Deacons can be a blessing to churches, but deacons can be an absolute curse. A pastor and a deacon should be tried before they're ordained. A preacher and a deacon ought to be tried. They ought to be deacon and they ought to be preaching and pastoring before they're ever ordained. Do not give him a greeting. Don't even say hello to him. Don't say God bless you. Don't do it. For the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil, in his evil deeds and his evil works. Having many things to write to you, I do not want to do this with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and speak face to face that your joy may become full. The children of your chosen sister greet you." John tells this church, don't hunt with just any dog that barks. Churches have to be very careful when they allow people to come in. You have to know what they believe. Let them indoctrinate them with the truth before you turn them loose as teachers. When I pastored New Hope Missionary Bible Church two different times, but the first one was growing tremendously this rapidly, rapidly, rapidly, rapidly. And I devised a little book called The Doctrines of the Bible. by Dr. Jim Phillips. And I taught that many times at Valley Baptist Church. And I've taught different doctrinal lessons like that over the years. But when people came to that church, if they were all fired up and they wanted to teach, I'd say, you go through these 26 classes first, and then you can go teach. It gave them a doctrinal foundation. They could answer the children's questions or the people's questions. Whoever was in the class, they could answer those questions. And then years later, they would call me and say, Brother Jim, he said, I've got a problem with this. I said, you have that book, Doctrines of the Bible? Yeah, I said, well, look on so-and-so page. There's your answer. Oh, OK. Oh, OK. Over and over and over again, those teachers that I had sent out, they'd come with me with a question, and I said, it's in the book. Just look it up. It's in the book. Of course, I'd tell them. But they'd look it up. Here we have in 3rd John now, this other little 3rd John, it is a little bit longer letter than the other one was, but both of them could possibly be written on one page of papyrus in the original Eunceos. It is a private letter, but it is a church letter. It is addressed to Gaius, It says here, to the elder and the beloved Gaius, or Gaius, however you want to say it, whom I love, in truth, whom I love in truth. I love him because he's in the truth. I love him because I can have fellowship with him. His dog's not chasing skunks or cattle or deer or some trash game. You don't want your dog chasin' trash. You don't want your church members chasin' trash. Trash doctrines. Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. For I was very glad when brethren came here and bore witness to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. Truth! Aletheia! Truth! Truth! What is truth? That Jesus Christ came in the flood. That Jesus Christ died on the cross at Calvary. That Jesus Christ really did those miracles to prove that he was a Messiah. That he died on the cross at Calvary. That he was buried in the grave and that he rose again. Creation. That God created the heavens and the earth. They didn't evolve. That there was really a flood in Noah's day when he built the ark. These are things. that the nation of Israel really was raised up from Abraham. And then it has a place always in church history. And it will have in the millennium. You are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this to hear up my children walking in truth. Beloved, you are acting faithful in whatever you accomplish for the brethren and especially when they are strangers. Pilgrims. Hagar in the Hebrew. And they bear witness to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. Now those that come to you preaching the truth, give them honor, give them glory, and send them well with an offering. And feed them and clothe them and comfort them when they're with you, because they're God's messengers. For they went out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support such men, that we may be fellow workers with the truth. Verse number nine, I wrote something in the church But Deotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. Deotrephes was a rascal. John said that he didn't want to go in the same bath. They did take public baths back then. They had these public baths. They'd go in there and bathe. But John said he didn't want some of that heresy filth to rub off of him, off of Deotrephes, nor off of the Gnostics. The Atrophies was trying, he was a bad boy, the Atrophies was trying to say that John meant nothing, that he was nothing. That he knew all the health, all the truth, within him only. And then it says, for this reason I come, I will call attention to his deeds, which he does unjustly, accusing us with wicked words, twisted words, and not satisfied with this, neither does he himself receive the brethren, And he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church. He excommunicates them out of the church. He excludes them out of the church. Some churches, exclusion is a willful act. They like to exclude people. Well, the job witnesses do. Job witnesses exclude people that don't walk according to their doctrine and they won't talk to them. They won't even let their own families talk to them. I know a man that I pastored one time that was like that. He got mad at his daughter and he refused. He told his other children, do not talk to my daughter of mine. Do not talk to her. She is no longer my daughter. And told his own wife that he couldn't speak to her daughter. Domineering, controlling factors like that. He said, beloved, do not imitate this evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God, and the one who does evil has not seen God, doesn't know Him. Then he said, Jimmy, it says Demetrius there, that's Jimmy, has received a good testimony from everyone and from truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our witness is true. I have many things to write unto you, but I am not willing to write them with pen and ink. but I hope to see you shortly. And we shall speak prosopon, prosopon, prosopon, face to face. Peace be with you all. The friends greet you. Some people, they started the Mennonite, they called themselves the friends. From this very verse right here, they called themselves the friends. The friends of the church greet you. the friends by name, personally. These two little letters tell you don't hunt just with any dog that barks. Don't let anybody come into your church just because they're all there. They may bring money with them. But don't let anybody take control of your church and don't let anybody influence your church that is not doctrinally sound. That's the whole story of both of these letters. The boundaries which the truth draws. Don't hunt with just anybody's dog that barks. It'll cause you more trouble in the long run. Trouble maybe that you can't even fix. Our father, we, we send this message out in the world. Don't just hunt with any dog that barks. Father, you know what that means, and you know what you had written in your two letters here, and even in the first one. 1 John. Father, use this for your honor and glory throughout the world. I pray that you touch people's lives with it, that you build them up in the truth and the faith. And we have friends in the world. We have people that we deal with. that we can have limited fellowship with and those that we can have intimate fellowship with in the truth. Help us to remember those boundaries. Please forgive me where I failed you. In Jesus name I pray.