Shows we're live, so hopefully they're sound as well. But... Hey. This is... A blessing for those who can't come to church, not for those who don't want to come to church. So, it's not meant to replace church, but it is a blessing for those who can't. And also, as people scroll on Sunday morning, maybe locally, they say, oh, there's church going on in Brunswick. so please pray that the Lord will use it to his glory and For the edification of Saints and certainly for the salvation of sinners We are in 2nd John and and this is This is our final final lesson final sermon from this text this short short epistle And we're gonna start out this morning with this one. Last time I opened it up with questions. Today I'm gonna start it out, read the entire epistle as kind of a refresher. And then we'll open up for some questions if anybody has any answers or questions. on what we've covered so far, and then we'll dig in to the last part of this letter from John. 2 John has only one chapter, 13 verses. So beginning in verse one, the elder to the lady 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. Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we received commandment from the Father. Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world. Those who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming to flesh, this is the deceiver and the Antichrist. See to yourselves, you do not lose what we accomplished, that you may receive a full reward. 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. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house. Do not give him a greeting. for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and speak face to face so that your joy may be made complete. The children of your like sister greet you. So, this is the letter that John wrote to the elect lady and her children. So, as we've gone through this so far, I've been building an outline, building an outline. Who can tell me what that outline is based upon? What's the overall theme that we've been kind of looking at as we've gone through this? Love, truth, exactly. Anything else? Love, truth, and there's one more. Hospitality. Love, truth, hospitality. Those are the key elements that we're looking at in this. As he's writing to this lady and her children. And so, these are the elements that he's writing through here. One of the things that's really neat about looking at a letter like this, though it's 2,000 years old, Christianity really doesn't change. And what I mean by that is, you say, duh, it shouldn't change. Well, Christian people don't change either. We have this lady and her children, And this elder, this elect, or this elder, John, writing to her, and he's giving her some things, and he's writing to her about her children, some of whom are walking in the truth. There's concerns, there's concerns throughout this. Concerns about love, truth, and hospitality. There's also concerns about deceivers, and so on and so forth. And so, all these things are relevant to us, right? Do we not also have the same concerns? The same issues, same things going on in our lives today. And so whenever we look at such a small letter, it probably, not probably, but it would have fit on one papyrus, one page. wasn't much. I mean, you compare it to something like the Book of Romans, right, or even taking, comparing apples to apples, this wasn't like the Book of Revelation or John's Gospel. These letters that John writes in 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, these are small letters, but they're packed. fool. And so as you read through your Bibles, and, uh, and, and certainly I recommend that you do that every, every year, every, every day, every year. But as you read through them, don't, don't gloss over, rush through the small letters. There's a lot in here. much to be gleaned from. And even though we've had three, well, four if you count the introduction, this will be the fifth, again counting the introduction, sermon from 2 John, certainly I've not exhausted everything that can be found herein. And so when we go through this, does anybody have any questions that maybe you've thought of from a previous sermon or something that hasn't been covered in this that you've wondered about or you've thought about as you've considered this or maybe some application? in this text. So in the Christian home, there's no guarantee that all of your children are going to are going to follow the truth, right? And so even from the beginning, Adam and Eve's children, you have Cain and Abel, right? And so the implication here is that some of her children Well, what's written here is some of your children walk in the truth, which means that there's some who weren't. Now, whether they were saved or not is a question. There are times when even saved children go running into trouble and aren't in the truth, but they eventually come back. And so, uh, but, but even, even at that, even in a Christian household, there may be some who are saved and some who are lost like Jacob and Esau, right? And so two brothers that are very prime examples that we know, um, Esau was reprobate and so, uh, so, um, So there's different situations in different households. And those things are hard on parents, right? However, we have a limited amount of time with our children and we do the best we can with them, but we mustn't live our lives into our older years with regret All we can do is do our very best at living the way we should, presenting the gospel when we can, and showing the truth, knowing that the day will come when they will be of age, and they will stand before God in the judgment, and no child will ever stand before God with the excuse of, it's my parents' fault. They will eventually have to stand before God and give an account of themselves, just like we will, right? And so, as we go through life, Obviously, as the children get older and older and older, we continually pray for them and all that. We mustn't lose hope on those that aren't walking in the truth. We continually pray for them, and certainly that is something that bears on them. I do like how John focuses on the positive. He doesn't write to her and say, well, I saw Johnny, Susie, and whatever, out living life like they shouldn't. He focuses on the ones who were living right. They were walking. I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth. If Christianity is to then like it is now. If Christianity is then like it is now, she probably received a lot of letters about her other kids. Did you see what they're doing? Yeah, I know what they're doing, and it grieves me. But he writes, considering them. But certainly, Certainly, the household promises that are given, the household promises like what was given to the Philippian jailer in Acts, those promises extended to the household insofar as that, well, let's go over there in Acts chapter 16. I believe it is. X16 and... Verse 13, after he brought them out, he said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved in you and your house. They spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his household. He took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. So that promise that's given there applied to him as well as his household insofar as he and his house obeyed the gospel. So insofar as each one of his house, him, his wife, his children, each one of them. were required to obey the gospel. There was no guarantee that just because he believed that the whole house would then follow. Right? So that's where that falls in. The gospel message. is applicable for all within your house, whether the man, woman, child. And so that's how that all falls into play. But just because a person is a child, grows up in a Christian home does not mean that they'll automatically grow up living right, obedient, or even going on into heaven, right? Does that answer your question? It's a good one. It's a good one. And certainly, I think that there's application there because sometimes we look at our children, people do, and they grieve over ones who don't grow up right. Um, and I know, I know I've talked to a lot of people who, who have, uh, who have raised children and they've grieved over that sort of thing. But, uh, you know, the, the, the reality is that, um, if we believe the sovereignty of God in salvation, Outside, when we sow the seed, when we water, God gives the increase. We have to believe the same thing in our house as well, that it's true with our neighbors. It's true inside as well, that we sow the seed. The mission field, in other words, is the same. in our home as well as outside of our home. And so, very recently I saw something about B.H. Carroll. And if you've never read about the conversion of B.H. Carroll, read that. He wasn't even saved until he was old. He had just come back from the war. He fought in the Confederacy. And his mom had been praying for him, wanting him to be saved, but he hadn't been saved. And he'd come back from the war, he was torn up from that and all, and he went to church just to please his mother, to a Methodist church I believe it was. And in that church service, he was saved. And he became a great Baptist preacher in Texas. And certainly we rejoice over that, but just those are some things to consider. Who knows about this lady, how many children she had, but we rejoice with John that she had some children. that he found who were walking in truth. Any other questions? Amen. Amen. And we rejoice to know when we see others walking in truth. Joan's style of writing is an important lesson to all of us. You see some family, and you know some of, maybe some godly grandmother, some godly mother with grown children, some of their children walking in truth, some of them not, and you know, you know she's getting phone calls all the time about so and so. Say, you know what your boy's doing? You know what your daughter's doing? Send her some, send her some positive letters sometime. Call her up and say, hey, I just had a great conversation with your daughter, with your son, and I rejoiced. Well, today we're just gonna consider the last two verses, which are very important. And that is verses 12 and 13. Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and speak face to face so that your joy may be made complete. The children of your elect sister greet you. John finishes this out. Remember our outline, the first Three verses was truth, the basis for Christian hospitality or Christian unity. Walking in truth and love. the behavior of Christian hospitality was the second point. That's verses four through six. Then in verses seven through 11, we considered limits to Christian hospitality. Verses seven and 11, and then today we consider full joy, the blessing of Christian hospitality. John had many things to write to this lady, perhaps some things that he, that would have taken more than just this small sheet of papyrus paper. But he did not want to do it with paper and ink. The ink of those days wasn't ink like what we think of. We take for granted. In fact, it's terrible. Many of us are terrible letter writers. When's the last time we sat down and hand wrote a letter to somebody? Probably been a while, but we've got ink and a little pen that we can, and a lot of times we even get these pens for free from businesses and whatnot. Paper's pretty regularly available. The stamps, even though stamps have gone up, they're not that expensive. We put a stamp on an envelope, and we send it off, and in a few days, it gets to where it's going. But in those days, it was quite an ordeal. John had this papyrus paper that he was using. His ink was a mixture of water, charcoal, and gum resin. That's what he would have used to write. His pen would have been a split read. Letters are good, and we enjoy it when we get one. We like handwritten letters, but now we can even sit on the computer, type one out, send it through email or social media, and there it goes, and it gets there immediately around the world. No doubt this lady was glad to get it. Who knows how long it took her to get it or whatever. It would have been carried by messengers and so on and so forth, but she was glad to get it. But he says, I don't want to do so with paper and ink. I don't want to write these things. I want to, I want to, I want to see you speak face to face so that your joy may be made complete. The blessing of Christian hospitality is full of joy, complete joy. Often think that sometimes we miss out in our busy everyday lives, not enjoying Christian hospitality as described here. As he wrote this letter, it was a letter from the heart, but he says, there's something better than a letter, there's something better than this, and I wanna see you, that your joy may be made complete. This is full joy. Hospitality. The Bible talks much about it. Over in Titus chapter 1, I jotted down some instances here that I wanted to look at. In Titus chapter 1, Verses seven and eight. For the overseer must be beyond reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of dishonest gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled. So the overseer, The bishop, sometimes is the way it's translated, the pastor, the elder, is to be hospitable, one of the qualifications. I often think sometimes these things are missed in the ordination service of an elder and the way that it's done in our modern day. We focus a lot of times on the questions of doctrine and a lot of times those are yes or no type questions, but he's to be hospitable. But it's not just the pastor, not just the elder, not just the overseer who's to be hospitable. Notice in Romans chapter 12, as we begin to open up the scriptures on this text, in Romans chapter 12, we're on this subject here. Romans chapter 12, beginning of verse nine. Romans chapter 12, beginning of verse nine. Let love be without hypocrisy by abhorring what is evil, clinging to what is good, being devoted to one another in brotherly love, giving preference to one another in honor. not lagging behind in diligence, being fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in affliction, being devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality. And so he says, let love be without hypocrisy. And as he goes down through that, one of the things is to pursue Hospitality. Pursue hospitality. In this whole section here, which goes from verse nine all the way down, he's talking about, he's writing about the spirit-filled life of a Christian. Love without hypocrisy is a life that contributes to the needs of the saints that pursues hospitality, including By the way, those who are strangers, those who we may not know very well. In Hebrews chapter 13, in fact, the writer of Hebrews lays it out this way, Hebrews chapter 13, verses one and two. As he says, let love of the brothers continue. Let love of the brothers continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. For by this, for by this, by what? Showing hospitality to strangers. By this, some have entertained angels without knowing it. This passage always intrigued me. I thought, I wonder how many people we've had at our house who weren't really people. They were angels. I always thought that in my mind, you know, growing up. And I suppose there is that possibility because you're going all the way back to the Old Testament. Abram and others, there were angels who were among them, and they came in human form, and so on and so forth. And there is that possibility, but there's something that was going on in the early Christian world. That is this, hospitality in the Roman Empire meant that as people traveled, as they traveled through from place to place. They needed a place to stay. And hospitality among Christians meant that you might be called upon to put somebody up in your home to stay the night. Somebody that you don't know. Maybe not for a night, but maybe for a day or two or for longer. This was awkward in the best of times, right? How many of you would open up your home to a stranger, someone that you just met that day? That's awkward. But what about during times of intense persecution? Now you don't know whether that person who's come to your door who needs a place to stay, you don't know whether he's a spy for the government and he's checking on your home to see if you're a Christian or not. Or what if that person who's come to your door, if he is a Christian, if he is a brother, lest let love of the brothers continue, you don't know whether that brother who is traveling around the empire and you're holed up in your home, you don't know whether he's being followed by the governmental authorities. Your home is at peace, you're worshiping God in your home, but you're not out traveling, making a scene for yourself, and now this stranger shows up, he says, I too am a Christian, I'd like to stay at your home, and you're like, listen, I don't know who's been following you. You see? So, hospitality was of a different sort in those days. They didn't have, you couldn't say to that person, well, just going up to the comfort inn, I'm sure they've got a room for you. Couldn't say, well, you know what? We've got some extra money here. I'll pay for your room going over to the Best Western. You can stay there. I'll pay for it. But you can't stay here tonight. When the writer of Hebrews mentions angels, I don't think that he was meaning that this was the ultimate motivation for hospitality, that maybe this man in front of you is literally an angel, but ultimately, so that Those who read this, those who heard him speak this, his original audience and us would know just how far reaching an act of hospitality or kindness would go. whether that person in front of you is an actual person or an angel, it doesn't matter. Let the love of the brothers continue, and do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Over in 1 Peter, Peter put it this way. First Peter, chapter four, verses eight and nine. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. To be fervent, so here as he talks about keep fervent in your love for one another. To keep fervent means to be strained or to stretch. It's used of a runner that moves at a maximum output with taut muscles, stretching or straining to the limit. And as he writes about this, this is what he's talking about, with fervent love. And so when Peter quotes here, love covers a multitude of sins, and that's what he's doing. He's quoting from Proverbs, Proverbs 10, 12. He's talking about the nature of Christian love. Whether you look at it from the angle of God's love towards us or our love for one another, love covers a multitude of sins. Now, I must point out what every good commentator brings out on this, and that is that Just to quote from one John MacArthur, he says, this does not preclude the discipline of a sinning, unrepentant church member. What it does mean, though, is that specifically a Christian should overlook sins against him if possible, and always be ready to forgive insults and unkindness. Christians shouldn't walk around with chips on their shoulder ready to ready to lash out at everybody that's against them, right? So, oh, you touched me, I'm gonna get my lawyer. I saw what you did there, I'm gonna go against you. No, no, that's not the way we should be. I saw, you didn't shake my hand, I'm bringing you before the church next Sunday. No, no, that's not the way we should be. And Peter goes on to say, we're to be hospitable to one another without grumbling. And I'm told that this Greek word here means the love of strangers. Love is practical, not just emotional. When it comes down to it, when it comes down to it, How willing are you to open up your life to somebody? Say, oh, well, so-and-so's coming over today, and we're gonna have a meal with him. Oh, but I just don't know him that well. We can't have him over. Why not? How else are we gonna get to know him, you know? What's your first impulse? To grumble and complain? Be excited. Or to be hospitable. You see, there's no joy in grumbling, but there's joy in Christian hospitality. And that's what John is bringing out here in this text. As he writes to this lady, He says, though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and speak face to face so that your joy may be made complete. This lady got this letter. The messenger said, this is from John. She'd been happy about that. Oh, a letter from John. Praise the Lord. She begins to read it. The elder to the lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth. She's reading this. She's got joy. She's happy about it. She's reading on down, and she gets to the end, and he says, I've got many things to write to you. I don't want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you, speak to face to face. In the Greek, I'm told it says, mouth to mouth. I'm coming to talk to you in such a way that we're gonna see each other. To cause you great anxiety, because I'm coming. No, that's not the way it is. He says, so that your joy may be made complete, because this is the blessing of Christian hospitality. Remember last week's sermon, the limits of Christian hospitality? When John told her that there's many deceivers going out in the world? Verse 10, he's told her, if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, do not give him a greeting. For the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. There's no joy in having the wrong people in your house. There's no joy in having the wrong kind of fellowship. There's no joy in the wrong kind of camaraderie. You want to think of it that way. But it ought to bring great joy with when we have the right people. The Bible warns us time and time again over in 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 6, versus 14 through 18. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship have light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement has a sanctuary of God with idols? For we are a sanctuary of God. the living God, just as God said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I'll be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean. I will welcome you. I will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord. Almighty. And so, we often think of this text as being a good one for marriage, and certainly it is. You want a miserable marriage. As a believer, marry an unbeliever. That's just the way to do it. You want a terrible life? You're a believer, go out, find an unbeliever, and yoke up with her or him, and you'll see what a terrible life that'll be. But this is also application in other physical things as well, business, spiritual applications. And in fact, this is taken from the Old Testament, prohibitions to Israel. When God Yahweh told Israel, And he said in Deuteronomy 20 to 10, you shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. Now, we don't typically think about those things. We don't have those problems. But if you take an ox and a donkey, And if you're not familiar with it, get on the internet and see how those things would work. But if you take an ox and a donkey and try to put them together and try to yoke them up and try to plow together, you're going to have a mess. You're not going to get much work done. It's going to be a disaster because they have different instincts, different characteristics, different temperaments. Indeed, indeed, in this world, you can have friendships with people who have a different worldview, different, different, well, the people who are not saved and so on and so forth. But the best fellowship The best friendships that a child of God can have are with people of God. The blessings of Christian hospitality come, and we see that here in this text. John is coming to see him face to face and have full disclosure of the truth, discussion of the word of God. There's some things when you're with the world, as a child of God, when you're with the world, there's some things that you know you can't talk about the same way that you can with God's people. We all get busy in our modern life. Sometimes we miss out on this full joy, even as God's people, God's people, even as members of the Lord's church. I tried to bring this out a little bit in a post I made recently online, but look at the early church in Acts chapter two, Acts chapter two. Christian life, church life is not just about coming together on Sunday morning coming together again on a midweek service and then that's it. Acts chapter two. Look here at this example that we have here of the early church. Now keep in mind the church at Jerusalem They weren't a perfect church. They still had not scattered like they were supposed to and so on and so forth. But look at this, what we find in Acts chapter two. We find this great example from them in Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost. Begin verse 37 and going down to verse 47. Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brothers, what should we do? Peter said to them, repent, each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. he received the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself. In many other words, he solemnly bore witness and kept on exhorting them, saying, be saved from this crooked generation. And so then, those who had received his word were baptized, That day, there were added about 3,000 souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. Fear came upon every soul. Many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. All those who had believed were together. and all things in common. And they began selling their property and possessions and were dividing them up with all as anyone might have need and daily devoting themselves with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house. They were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. The Lord was adding to their number daily, those who were being saved. This early church, they... Sometimes we miss this, I think. We get all excited about the day of Pentecost, and I don't expect there to be another Pentecost experience. But sometimes we miss this part. This early church didn't grow because they had beautiful buildings. They didn't. They met there in the upper room. They didn't have any amazing order of service laid out. They didn't have that. They What they had, and sometimes we miss, is that they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching. Pay attention to verse 42 and verse 46 in this text, in 47. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching. He said, preacher, the apostles are dead. That's correct, but we have the word of God. This is the apostles' teaching. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching. If all you get of the Bible is Sunday morning, And maybe on Tuesday night, you're not getting enough. You need to continually be in it. But that was all they were getting. You see, they were, they had the apostles teaching, they had fellowship, they had the breaking of prayer, the breaking of bread in prayer. They were, they were, breaking bread from house to house. They were taking their meals together, the Bible tells us in verse 46, and with all that with gladness and sincerity of heart. They were coming together and they were fellowshipping more than just for an hour or two in the week. There was accountability, there was relationship, there was growth, there was obedience, there was some work involved. This is the way that God has always worked. You go into the Old Testament, there's a passage that I like. Sometimes we miss it. It's in Malachi. I think we miss it because it's in Malachi chapter three. A lot of preaching has been done about, will a man rob God? Oh yes, that's important to consider. Certainly, but if you're going down from where that's at, verses 7 through 12, and going down to verse 16, there's something in there about the book of remembrance. Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another. Yahweh gave heed and heard it. The book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon his name. They will be mine, says Yahweh of hosts, on the day that I prepare my own treasured possession. I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked. one who serves God one who does not serve him a people who speak often to one another and God Yahweh is paying attention to that and seeing that let me see the book of Remembrance there far too many Saints go through life It's consumer. Oh, preacher, send me that letter. Give me that sermon. And then that's it. Don't come see me. Don't talk to me. Name on a roll somewhere. Shake a hand. Hear a sermon. Sit in a pew. Then go home. Never fellowship. Never share a sermon. Never share a meal, rather. Conversation. Sadly, entire churches are made that way. Our churches die that way too. No real joy. What John is talking about here, what John is writing about, whatever he had to say to her, he could have written it all down. Skip the trip. He was aged. He was an aged apostle. Trips weren't easy in those days, but he tells her, I don't wish to write this with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and speak face to face so that your joy may be made complete. Full joy is the blessing of hospitality. We should long for that. We should long for that. There are times when we're providentially hindered from being together, times when we can't see each other face to face, times when we're sick, times when we have to work, times when we are separated by distance. But understand, the full joy is to be found in the blessing of hospitality face to face, or mouth to mouth, as the Greek put it. And I like that because face to face sometimes, what happens? We get in a room these days and what are we doing? Everybody's on their cell phones. Nobody's conversating. Put them things down, have conversations. Mouth to mouth, speak to one another, the things of God. Verse 13, the children of your elect sister greet you. John closes this out by referring to nieces and or nephews. of the woman he was writing to who apparently were with John or close by who sent their greetings via John. Again, people are people, no different. And you know how it is. You say, oh, I'm going to go see your aunt, or I'm writing a letter to so-and-so, oh, tell them I said hi. That happened in the ancient world as well. And we see that personal touch here in this letter, even in a Bible, Holy Spirit-inspired text like this. God breathed it. It's there. We see the personal touch here as well. We don't know their names, but we know that they were there. And John included it here. The Holy Spirit included it here, preserved for us, that we can smile and say, yes, John remembered to tell them hello. And I'm sure that that made the late lady, whoever she was, smile as well. And so, that concludes the letter of 2 John. May God add the blessing to the preaching of his word. Do we have any questions? All right, Leah and Mary, if you want to come, let's sing another song.