Well, good morning. Indeed, it is a beautiful morning, a little low humidity. We'll take it, and we'll also take a break this morning from Philippians. If you haven't noticed in your bulletins, we will be in the little epistle, 2 John. If you want to make your way to 2 John, that is after 1 John and before 3 John, but it is very small. It's near the end of your Bibles. It's maybe a page or two, so it's easy to miss as you find that. While you're turning there, I want to talk to you for a moment about heroes, not Marvel superheroes, although that would be interesting, but people who have touched your life, people who have made a mark, had an impact, godly men and women, godly men and women who refuse to compromise the truth. They won't give in to the darkness no matter the cost. And it's these kind of people who hold to the gospel as it's been revealed in Scripture. And I would argue that in a spiritual hero's most trying moments, at the core of their being is a fear of the Lord, a reverential awe for both his love and law. Some of you certainly may have known spiritual heroes in the past. There may be individuals in your life that you have known. They may not even be here today, walking with us here today, but they may be of years past that are your spiritual heroes. They've really left a mark in your life and how they've handled the Word of God and the trials in their lives. There may be individuals of the past that you look and you say, you know what, I never met them. As a matter of fact, they're like spiritual giants. They're church heroes of the past, but they've had an impact on my life. They've been spiritual heroes. And also you may have individuals in the present. I would argue, for me personally, there's some of you in here today that would qualify as that, as spiritual heroes, young and old, who based on your trials have kept focused on the Word of God and the Lord, living really truly in the fear of the Lord and His love and law is your focus, wanting to be found faithful. I want to share with you this morning one of my heroes of the faith. It's a servant named Polycarp. Now honestly, how many of you have heard the name Polycarp? Okay, so there's a good handful here. All right, that's impressive. He was a direct disciple of the Apostle John. He met John at age five, so they knew each other for a long time. And Polycarp later became the pastor, what was called then Bishop, of the church at Smyrna. But it's his death in 156 AD that he's most remembered for. It's his death that people usually point to Polycarp and go, wow, that is a spiritual hero of mine. And last Sunday, Pastor Dave had shared his belief that soon there could be a day, and I wholeheartedly agree, and I believe you do as well, that there could be a day in which we are imprisoned for identifying with the gospel, with proclaiming the gospel, with in some way stating that this Word of God is our authority, it is our source. On the first and second centuries in Rome, they had him killed. If they didn't just imprison them, they killed them. At first, entertainment executions is what they would do. Maybe you saw this in movies, but they'd be fending for themselves in an arena against wild beasts. They later moved to burnings in Rome. And these gruesome horrors were especially reserved for brave witnesses of God. They were men and women who refused to yield. They were never giving in no matter the cost. And yet some, even in those situations, they did deny Christ to avoid being torn apart or even burned. One church record tells us that Quintus was such a man. Imagine being known for this, but the act of apostasy involved publicly forsaking Christ with what was called a loyalty oath to the Roman emperor. You were, in essence, you were stating that he is God to be worshiped and denying that Christ is Lord. but not for Polycarp. He refused to compromise the truth. There was no middle ground to be found for Polycarp. He had no interest whatsoever in his own preservation or even promotion, only in guarding the truth. And one church letter, an early church document from that time, gives us the details concerning Polycarp's death. Let me read just a portion of it for you this morning. It reads, The police had seized two young slaves, one of whom confessed under torture. Taking, therefore, the young slave, the police set out as though hasting after a robber. And late in the evening, they found Polycarp in bed in the upper room of a small cottage. Even so, he could have escaped to another farm, but he did not wish to do so, saying, God's will be done. Thus, when he had heard of their arrival, he went downstairs and talked with them, while those who looked on marveled at his age and steadfastness and at how there should be such zeal over the arrest of so old a man. The police transferred him to their carriage and tried to persuade him as they sat beside him saying, what harm is there to say Lord Caesar and to offer incense and all that sort of thing and to save yourself? At first, Polycarp did not answer him. But when they persisted, he said, I am not going to do what you advise me. He soon was led into the arena. where the Roman leader asked him if he were Polycarp, and when he confessed that he was, he tried to persuade Polycarp to deny the faith, saying, have respect to your age. Swear by the fortune of Caesar. Change your mind. Take the oath, and I shall release you. Curse Christ. Polycarp said, 86 years I have served him, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my king who saved me? So even in his advanced years, Polycarp would not deny, he would not deviate from the exclusive claims of the gospel. For that would have been downright and outright blasphemy. And the letter continues, the Roman leader threatened again, I shall have you consumed with fire unless you change your mind. Listen to what Polycarp said here. The fire you threaten burns but an hour and is quenched after a little. for you do not know the fire of the coming judgment and everlasting punishment that is laid up for the wicked. Why do you delay? Come, do what you will. Polycarp was saying, you know what? You wanna threaten me with fire? You think that's hot? That's not gonna be long. You're the one who should be scared here. You're the one who should bow. You're the one who should proclaim Christ as Lord and Savior. And so the fire was lit, and this man of God named Polycarp was found faithful. And it's his unwavering commitment to the truth, to gospel truth, no matter the cost, that has us asking, what made him like that? Why was he like that? I mean, who influenced him? What did he instruct him? What did he teach him? I would suspect, as a direct disciple of the Apostle John, that the text we have in front of us this morning, it would certainly qualify as some of that curriculum. Second John, guiding how he would rebuke those opposed to the gospel. Now, we're only gonna focus on verses seven through 11 this morning, but for context, I do wanna take us through this entire short letter. It's quite short, it's only 13 verses here, but let's look at all 13 verses. And when I say short, by the way, going by the Greek text, 3 John is the shortest letter or book in the Bible. 2 John is only a few words longer, it's approximately 300 Greek words, so it just misses first place here, it's second place. Look with me at 2 John. Let's look at these 13 verses here. The elder to the chosen 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 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, 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. And 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 acknowledge Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but 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 and 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 full. The children of your chosen sister greet you. I love here how John refers to himself as the elder, the elder. You know, he never named himself in his own gospel account. He used terms like another disciple or even the other disciple. You may be familiar with the phrase he often used, the disciple whom Jesus loved, that humility he had. He just wouldn't name himself. But this is John here, the elder. And it's many years later. John is no longer a disciple. He is an apostle and he's the only living one of the 12 that remain. He's the only one that will not be martyred here. And so the term elder, it fits. It literally means one who is advanced in age, as well as a church leader, Presbyteros, and that applies here as well as he was one in Ephesus. And we also have to look here at the intended recipient quickly, and that is the chosen lady and her children. The chosen lady and her children. And it's not clear here whom he's writing to or where he is sending this letter. Some think it perhaps possibly is a cryptic reference to a specific church's congregation. You can kind of see the play on words if that were to be the case. Not an individual woman here, but an entire church collectively. Others think it was a specific woman whose actual name was Electa. Electa. That's a cool name. Kind of regretting we didn't name one of our girls Electa. They're probably all shaking their heads no. The context here suggests, though, that it is addressed to a prominent woman and her children. At least that's where I land, just to show my cards here. It's the least problematic view here. John writes, to the chosen lady and her children, and he adds in verse four, I was very glad to find some of your children walking in the truth, as if he bumped into a few of them in his own travels in some way. But either way, either way, the letter is meant to be shared with others. Verse seven uses a personal plural pronoun. You see, watch yourselves. That's plural, which is why it's in our Bibles. It applies to other churches. I'm certain that John wanted this letter distributed to other churches. It applies to other believers, to Polycarp, and to you and me. So, it's not a hill to die on either way. We see it has application to this woman, to an early church, and it certainly has application to us today. So, let's look at the three points outlined in your bulletin this morning. If you're taking notes, the letter we're reading here, we're going through, fits nicely in the three sections. Our walk, that's verses 1 through 6 there, our walk. and then our warning, and that's five verses that we'll look at, pretty specific, verses seven through 11, and then our welcome. So walk, warning, and welcome, and that'll be the last two verses that are there. Let's deal with the bookends first, points one and three, our walk and our welcome. With regards to number one here, our walk, we wanna be known, right, as people who walk in the truth. That's what our walk is to be. People who walk in the truth. Walk in the truth. If you were to look again at the first six verses, you would note three key words being repeated. You'd find love is used four times, truth five times, and walk, different versions of walk, three times. Listen to a few of these phrases, you can look at them yourself as well. John writes of the chosen lady and her children, verse 1, whom I love in the truth. Whom I love in the truth. Why? Why does he love them in the truth? In part because the end of verse 1, it says that they all know the truth. He loves them in the truth because they know the truth. And that's important for us because there's a special bond between the people of God. They have been called by this same truth. They hold to the same truth. They love the same truth. Well, then what is this unifying truth? Verse three, 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. It's gospel truth. It's gospel truth, it's grace, it's unmerited favor from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and it resulted in mercy. It's a merciful dealing, not giving us what we deserve. Instead, we have peace, peace with God. This gospel truth, grace, mercy, and peace will be with us. That is the truth referred to here. It's a truth that rescues and redeems man from his sin. It's a truth that satisfies God. It's a truth that secures those who are in Christ. And it's the same truth. Some of these children in verse four are seen walking in. John's making an important point here about the Christian's walk. To walk in truth is to walk in love. truth in love. It is to walk in obedience to God's commandments. Verse 4, I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father. Well, what is this commandment? End of verse 5, that we love one another. It's repeated in verse six, and this is love, that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, just as you've heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. It's interesting, it's both an old and new commandment, and that God the Father, he originally told the Israelites in Leviticus 19 to love their neighbors. The nation of Israel was to love their neighbors. But some of them are enemies. Love your neighbors. And Jesus reiterated this often in his own ministry, and it's a running theme in John's writings, a love for God and a love for one's neighbor, so it shouldn't surprise us. But turn back just a few pages here to the first epistle from John. First John. First John chapter two, verses seven and eight. He writes, in chapter two, verses seven and eight, Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment, which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you." So our walk is to be marked by the truth of God's word, lived out towards others in love. We're to walk in truth. And that's a great way to define righteousness, isn't it? Practical righteousness. What is practical righteousness? What does it really mean to be a righteous individual, to live it out? Truth and love. We walk in truth when we display the love of Christ towards others. And only Christians can display this kind of love. Only Christians can display the love of Christ because they're recipients of it as well. You still in 1 John here, look at the same chapter, chapter two, verses 10 and 11. Verse 10 says, the one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness. and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. This is very interesting. So if you are filled with hate, if you are filled with bitterness, with anger, it equates it to walking in darkness. Same letter here, 1 John, how about chapter four, verse eight? 1 John 4.8. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. And the fruit of this truth is love. Look at verse 11, same chapter, chapter four. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Still in the same chapter, verses 20 and 21. If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. So John writes to this woman essentially saying, I and everyone who loves the truth loves you. And this is seen in the final section of 2 John. Remember our bookends. First here we have our walk, walk in truth. And then third here now we have our welcome, our welcome. One more time with verse 12 at the end of 2 John. Verse 12 reads, 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 full. Our welcome should echo John's here each and every time we gather at Grace Life Church. We are to affirm our unity with one another. Affirm our unity. Remember, John has already laid the foundation of this unity. It's certainly not in preferences. Our unity as a whole, local body here, is not in preferences. Oh, that would cause trouble, wouldn't it? And it does cause trouble. But what about personalities? Are you kidding? My issues? Your issues? And we're going to try to find unity in that? No. It is in the truth, the gospel truth, the gospel grace, mercy, peace, truth that John has referred to earlier. John here, he's seeking a continuing relationship with his sister in Christ. He says he hopes to come to speak face to face so they can continue to experience joy even to its fullest. And look, it may require some heartfelt work at times, including a selfless attitude. And that is hard for each and every one of us. It's an attitude that desires to love and serve others. But this is what it takes as a family. That's the body of Christ. Look around in this auditorium for a moment. Go ahead, look around. Just look around at each other for a moment. These are your brothers and sisters in Christ. We want to be intentional. We want to affirm our unity with one another today. So what does that mean? That means love them. That means encourage them. That means serve them. Why? John tells us why. In order that your joy may be full. Certainly to the glory of God. But specifically when we do this, our joy will be full. If you're using a MacArthur study Bible, check out the note for this verse in verse 12. I'm going to read it. You'll get a kick out of this. It's verse 12's study note, and it says on this, when believers, that's important, believers, we're talking about Christians, when believers uphold the biblical standards for fellowship, just like what we talked about, The result is genuine joy among believers because the truth of the word, the truths of the word are maintained. Because the preferences are maintained? No. Because the personalities are really in sync and man, I really like this individual? No, that doesn't last very long. No, the unity is in the truth. And so John ends this letter as he began it. On a positive note, he says, let us walk in truth together, in love. And let us affirm our unity in that truth together. Let me quickly add here, this confidence in the gospel, it should characterize the life of every single Christian. The watching world should say, wow, look at those that grace life love each other. I want that kind of love, that's attractive. I want to be loved like that and I want to love like that. It should be the mark of every single Christian, not just a spiritual hero. Which brings us to where I want to focus the remainder of our time together, the middle of this passage in our outline. Not only is there something to be gleaned here about our walk and our welcome, but also our warning, our warning. There's a warning here from John, which is to guard the truth. We should be guarding the truth. You know, it's great when the truth is proclaimed and certainly practiced. Yeah, we're all for that. But what about when it's destructively distorted? Again here, John writes, beginning in verse seven, for many deceivers have gone out into the world. Those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but 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 and do not give him a greeting. For the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds." A number of years ago, Dr. Albert Moeller wrote a blog post outlining what he called theological triage. I love that, theological triage, where he shared how he had a trip to the local emergency room, and it alerted him to a tool, an intellectual tool, that's needed for Christians as well to help prioritize certain doctrinal issues over others. And in recent years, emergency medical personnel practice a discipline known as triage, something that a number of you, because you're in that profession, you are quite familiar with. Triage is a process that allows trained personnel to make a quick evaluation of what seems to be a medical emergency. So should the patient be rushed into surgery or simply just wait in this room here for a less urgent examination? Sadly, that's often the case for us, isn't it? The word triage comes from a French word just simply meaning to sort, to sort, which is what must take place in assessing the needs of ER patients. Should a scraped knee receive the same urgency as like a gun wound to the, a gunshot wound to the chest? I don't think so. much in the same way, we as Christians need to understand the difference between first order doctrines, issues on which determine our salvation, and second and even third order doctrines, which are still important but to a lesser degree. So, John here In this passage, he's not merely contesting the idea of say, should Christians be cremated? Or are tattoos taboo? It's much, much more serious than that. His concern is a matter of eternal life and death. Verse eight, watch yourselves that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. In other words, before you is a patient, and this patient has been poisoned with something eternally life-threatening. It's lethal. They've let the wrong words seep into the right ears, and this person needs to receive immediate attention or else face spiritual chaos, if not destruction. It has the potential to cause such great damage, as John says, to lose what we have already accomplished, meaning that not only would it include the deception of self, but perhaps many others within their Christian circles. Just a footnote here, be careful. This is not saying you can lose your salvation. That's not what John is talking about here. Those who have placed their faith in Christ alone are His. cannot be plucked out of his hand. That's not what's being said here. But feeding someone a false gospel is deception in the highest degree. This is the danger John's past and present readers all face, a very real and a very immediate danger. As you see in your outline here, it's a danger of having the wrong view of Jesus and a wrong view of man. These are two ways that we can see this today. And certainly John saw it in his day. A wrong view of Jesus, they have the wrong Jesus and a wrong view of man. On this wrong Jesus, one of the most basic tenants of whether a person is Christian or not begins with their view of Jesus Christ, right? This is what Jesus asked of his disciples in Matthew 16, 15. Who do you say that I am? And like those 12, we must give an answer. Do you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus? Meaning, do you believe that Jesus Christ truly is the Son of God? Do you believe that he came to earth, God in flesh, 33 odd years on the earth, lived it perfectly and sacrificed it as part of the Father's will as the Lamb of God to pay for the sins of those who would believe. Does that confession that you have square with what Scripture says of our Savior? Or does it deny that Jesus is truly man and truly God? We need to grow in our discernment of those who are naming the name of Christ. It's very dangerous, not just back then, but today. So many are naming the name of Christ, but it's truly not Christ. It's a wrong Jesus. False doctrine is found here, there, and everywhere. Again, verse seven. Well, deceivers deceive. They mold the gospel truth into a doctrine of demons. And John says they are literally perverting the redemptive plan of God. One commentator I read rightly warned, Satan's missionaries are on assignment. Look, the wrong Jesus The wrong Jesus equals the wrong gospel equals the wrong salvation. If you have the wrong Jesus, you've got the wrong gospel. And if you've got the wrong gospel, you're not saved. Don't be that guy. Don't subscribe to such baseless, groundless, foundationless promises. I mean, here's a quick test. Can you spot the heresies in a book such as Jesus Calling by Sarah Young? Or how about Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo? I mean, these are two easy ones I just threw out there. We need to know the difference between what is truthful and what is toxic. Both of those are toxic. Between what is right and what is outright wrong. If you walk the aisle of a Christian bookstore, You go into one of those Christian bookstores, not ours, but you go into one of our Christian bookstores in this community, and you go there, you know what you'll see, right? You'll see an endless display of unbiblical books marked as biblical. And countless cults have caught on too, guys. They know this. They know our kryptonite. What's our kryptonite? It's that many don't know their Bibles. That's the kryptonite. Many aren't really in the word. They don't know their Bibles. And so anything they can do to seem and sound biblical, it's in play. Here are just a few. The Mormons. The Mormons. Recently, Mormon marketing rules required the media now to use a new name. The Church of Jesus Christ. Did you get that? The Church of Jesus Christ. Why? Because it's deceitful. That's why. But here's the truth, their Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible. Just one example from their materials is their claim that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers. They believe that Jesus and Lucifer are spiritual brothers. This from an official LDS publication, Latter Day Saints publication. It reads, on first hearing, this is their material, by the way, on first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord Jesus Christ are brothers may seem surprising to some, really, especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations. But both the scriptures and the prophets affirm that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are indeed offspring of our heavenly Father, and therefore spirit brothers. Jesus was Lucifer's older brother. Somebody please help me with that. They have the wrong Jesus. Christian scientists, Christian science reading rooms, you know what they do? They place a Bible alongside Mary Baker Eddy's works in their window displays. Why? I'd argue they're being devious. Here's the truth, their religion is neither Christian nor does it have anything to do based on science. They believe Jesus was simply a human being who demonstrated the Christ truth. That's what they call it, the Christ truth. They claim you and I can become as spiritually advanced as he was. Jesus is not so unique, they teach. He was simply a way shower. They have the wrong Jesus. I'm not done. We can just keep going. Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses will knock on your door and claim they are a Christian. They're holding a Bible and they're proclaiming the name of Jesus. Why? It's disingenuous. Even what they're holding is not the Bible. The Watchtower has altered that. They distort the original scriptures and deny Jesus's divinity. It's been said that the average Jehovah's Witness can make a doctrinal pretzel out of the average Christian in about 30 seconds. Why? Because we don't know our Bibles. They know our kryptonite. This is why John warns again, verse eight, watch yourselves. The NIV literally says, watch out! It's like a sign that reads, beware of dog. God's Word instructs us to be on alert and remain attentive. Many are claiming that what they teach actually represents Christ, but if you will just test it with what Scripture teaches, you'll discern rather quickly that they have the wrong view of Jesus, meaning they don't have Him at all. And not only do these individuals dismiss an orthodox view of God incarnate, they have the wrong Jesus. But they also distort a biblical view of man. They have the wrong view of man. They've made a mess of the makeup of mankind. They declare us to be truly good, spiritual beings with the potential for God-like if not divine status. But as John continues to caution, look at verse nine again here. Anyone who goes too far, I love that. Anyone who goes too far, literally, that's out of bounds. Anyone who goes out of bounds and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, meaning everything Christ taught, does not have God. Let me go back to those same cults who are definitely out of bounds for sure here. The Mormons. Mormons teach a form of godhood. Joseph Smith, their founder, let me just share with you what he instructed his followers. This is their material. They consider this holy scripture that I'm reading. It's one of his messages. You have got to learn how to be gods yourselves. The same as all gods have done before you. Brigham Young, you're familiar with Brigham Young, right? You're at least familiar with the school. The Lord created you, he said, the Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming gods like himself, to become gods like unto our Father in heaven. Christian scientists, Christian science sees man's state of being as purely spiritual. We are immaterial and indestructible. I certainly don't feel like that, do you? They say that's the reason why they would tell you is you've been deceived into thinking sickness and sin have power over you. Mary Baker Eddy, their founder, writes this. Spirit is immortal truth. Matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal. Matter is the unreal and temporal, if you're tracking with this at all. Spirit is God and man is made in his image and likeness. Therefore, man is not material, he's spiritual. He's spiritual. Jehovah's Witnesses, they believe the exact opposite. That man does not have an immortal, immaterial soul. It's simply a life force. It's a Star Wars-ish kind of life force here, received for life and leaves at death. In their New World Translation, the Watchtower Society actually alters a number of verses, but one of them they do to support this is Genesis 2-7. 2.7 in their Bible air quotes reads, "...Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of the dust from ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life." Well, we'd agree with that. That's pretty much what our Bibles read. But then they add here, "...and the man became a living soul." They change being to soul, one word, and they start building a case out of that. Dangerous stuff here. Listen, God's word, it's the antidote to the Antichrist of our day. Same as it was in their past, in the past. John and Polycarp, they were dealing with deceivers in their day. Remember, they were dealing with many counterfeit Christians out and about. Smooth talkers, false teachers. These guys are mouth breathers. They sound familiar here? They're unregenerate men causing harm, literally countering the teachings of Christ. That's what antichrist means, with a lowercase a. Antichrist, countering the teachings of Christ. Selling something that may look like Christianity, but in fact it's not. The men back then were corrupting the gospel much the same way others are today. They were known primarily as Gnostic heretics. You may have heard of Gnosticism, with the wrong view of Jesus and the wrong view of man. They were snake oil salesmen who were claiming a special or higher knowledge. And that's exactly what all of these have done. But listen to how John and Polycarp both dealt with these false teachers. One early church letter states this about the Apostle John. John here, the disciple of the Lord, was going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving one of the false teachers within, rushed out of the bathhouse without bathing, exclaiming, let us fly, lest even the bathhouse fall down, because Serinthes, the enemy of the truth, is within. My favorite, though, is the one dealing with Polycarp. And Polycarp himself replied to the false teacher, Marcion, who had met him on one occasion and said, dost thou know me? Listen to how Polycarp answers this. I do know thee, the firstborn of Satan. Those testimonies give us a graphic representation of how both these men dealt with deceivers. There were many, and there now are many, verse seven again, for many deceivers, many deceivers, not a few. Today, deceivers not only come from cults like that of Mormonism or Christian science and the Watchtower Society, but also men and women who promise prosperity. Many of you know this, our Sunday school class has been a combined Sunday school class in which we've been watching Justin Peter's DVD, Clouds Without Water. That's exposing a lot of this heresy, exposing a number of these false views of Jesus and man. Let me just name three here. Creflo Dollar. aptly named Creflo Dollar. God uses, this is his quote here, it's his words in one of his messages. God uses words to create what he wants to exist. Christians have the same ability. For example, when there's a lack in your life, call forth abundance to replace it. Really? Joyce Meyer. She says, if you stay in your faith, you are going to get paid. I am living my reward. It just goes from bad to worse to Joel Osteen. If you do your part, God will do his. He will promote you. He will give you increase. You hear anything wrong with these statements? You should. Discretion is absolutely essential. You need to test everything that is being said. These popular preachers of our day, they fill arenas and stadiums. and they have the wrong view of Jesus. They treat Him as if He's some genie in a bottle and the wrong view of man teaching their little God's doctrine that we have the potential to be God. When our kids were younger, we did this a few times, we would play a game called Spot the Error. We would get in front of the TV, we would each grab a Bible and I would search, and it wouldn't take long, this is really sad, it wouldn't take long. I would search for a prosperity preacher, for one of those peddlers. And we would sit, and we would watch, and we would see how long it would take to spot the error. Now, I'm going to be honest here and tell you that sometimes it took a little bit. Because sometimes these guys and gals, they get something right for a little bit. Even a broken watch is right twice a day. So they get something. So you're tracking, and you're listening, and you're going, hmm, that's not bad. OK. But then you get it. Then you spot the error. You want to play? Seriously? You want to play? Try it at home. I mean, how easily are you taken in by those who twist theology? Maybe it's not you, perhaps it's a friend or a family member. Some of you know the blogger Tim Challies. He went ahead and created his own online game, Joel Osteen or Fortune Cookie. Go ahead, Google it, play it. Puts up a phrase. You have to figure out, and it's tough sometimes, you have to figure out whether Joel Osteen said it or it came from a fortune cookie. Now, perhaps some of you are sitting here and you're saying, that's not right. He's naming names. I don't like that he's naming names. First, let me say to you that these are public ministries. This is not Matthew 18. This is not something personal here. These are public ministries. They are being addressed publicly because they are public ministries. And by the way, never let it be said that we shouldn't name false teachers. You know, Jesus did. He certainly did. Matthew 7.15, beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. The apostle Paul did. 1 Timothy 1.20, among these are Hymenas and Alexander, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. And John did, diatrophies, does not accept what we say. Actually, it's third John, third John nine. You can look at the other side of your Bible there and see it there. Third John nine, diatrophies, does not accept what we say. And we're instructed to do the same. John says, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many prophets have gone out into the world. First John four one. You should be able to watch any of the false teachers I mentioned earlier and be able to spot the error. You know, Mark read for us Proverbs 2. It says cry for discernment. We should pray for discernment. Pray for it, for understanding, for sound wisdom for the upright. He read, discretion will guard you. It will deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, twisted teaching, twisted theology, and that's it. To put it plainly, those guys and gals, they deny, they distort, they dilute what has been revealed to us in Scripture concerning the gospel. And John says, avoid them at all costs. He says not to provide physical or financial support to those who devilishly distort doctrine. Verse 10. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him a greeting. We are not to embrace error. And by the way, the early church they met in home, so be careful here. Remember the cultural context here. This is not saying that you shouldn't confront a Mormon at your door. That's not what this is saying here. What it's saying is don't be a friend to fallacy. Don't you do that. Verse 11, for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. That is John's warning, which is our warning. Guard the truth. There are many who have a wrong view of Jesus. They've got the wrong Jesus and they have a wrong view of man and they seek to deceive. No, they are deceivers. Many deceivers, John says. Watch yourselves, John says. And it was really interesting here, as we wrap this up, all of this is done in the context of our walk, walking in the truth and love, and our welcome, in which we affirm our unity. It's all done in that context there. I hope you'll see from this little letter from John, those truths that it comes to you in a sense in a new light, that we really are to walk in truth and love, that we really are to affirm our unity together, to encourage one another as we gather here. and then certainly that we're to be on guard. We're to guard the truth. It reminds us of the value of God's word and God's people, and yet it warns us pastorally not to turn aside and give an ear to false teaching, that we should be guarding the truth. If you love the Lord and you love his word, let us be found faithful to guard the truth. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the simple truth of this epistle. It's purposely short and to the point, and I pray that we would receive it and never neglect the rich counsel found on its pages of your holy word. Father, it's our prayer that you would help us to grow in godliness. to walk in truth, to walk in love, to walk in obedience to your commands, to be marked by the truth of God's Word, lived out towards one another in love here, and in doing so that we would affirm that, we would affirm our unity with one another. We wanna thank you for the body of Christ, and specifically the local body here of Grace Life. Help us to guard your truth, to be polycarps in our day, searching the scriptures diligently with singleness of heart. It's our desire to do this for your glory, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.