DAY #347: 2 John 1-13

Christianity had spread to many cities in the world. Sometimes there were several house churches in a city. True teachers and false teachers were proliferating. Because there were many false teachings about Jesus Christ in the days of the early church, the apostles had to describe which teachings about Jesus were true and which were false. Believers who adhered to the apostolic teachings—both in doctrine and in practice—were living in the truth.


Living in the truth refers to the Christians conducting their lives as they had been commanded by the Father. The commandment to live in the truth came from the Father through the Son to the disciples (John 15:15), who passed it on to the believers (Matthew 28:19-20). As John had explained in another letter, “And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us” (1 John 3:23). To live in the truth, therefore, involves believing in Jesus Christ as God’s Son (faith) and loving others (action).
John urged the church to love one another. This was not a new commandment; the believers had heard this from the beginning. The Christians had been taught this commandment from the time they first heard the gospel preached. The statement that Christians should love one another is a recurrent New Testament theme. Those who claim to love God and believe in his Son must put their faith into practice by loving.

Love does not focus on emotions or feelings; instead, love means doing what God has commanded. Love is expressed by obedience; obedience fulfills the command to love. The one command to love one another sums up all of God’s commands, and obedience to God’s commands is the sure test of love.

Four times in verses 4-6 appears a form of the word “command.” Yet the commands are obeyed through love. John wanted his readers to know that he spoke as an Elder, as an apostle, and as a loving father to his children—with authority from God himself. The false teachers had no such authority, and their lifestyles did not exemplify love.

The warning of this letter is this: Beware of the many deceivers (that is, the false teachers) who do not believe that Jesus Christ came to earth in a real body. John’s first letter mentioned this heresy (1 John 4:2-3). Jesus had warned his disciples that false teachers would arise and lead many astray (Matthew 7:15; 24:11, 24). Jesus’ words had come true, for many of these false teachers had gone out into the world. One group in particular, called the Docetists, denied Jesus’ humanity and instead promoted the falsehood that he only seemed to have a human body. Believers, however, must hold on to what they believed—that Jesus is truly the Son of God who came to earth as a human. He is both fully human and fully God.

Every false teacher is against Christ—he or she is a deceiver and an antichrist (1 John 2:18-19). These deceivers foreshadow the one final Antichrist who will embody all the deception of earlier anti-Christian systems and teachers.



SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Today Lord, give the people a heart - like never before to obey Your word and the commands found within. Today Lord, draw people to COV to hear the simple truth in the kids musical this morning. Lord, speak to hearts this morning and change lives. Give us a heart to obey.

In America, Bibles are everywhere. You can find them in grocery stores, bookstores, motel rooms, everywhere. They're available in all sizes, shapes, translations, versions, leather bound, paperback. Every year the Bible out sells every other major bestseller. Last year there were 500 million Bibles published in the world in 18,000 different languages. In America we are glutted with the word of God on the airways, radio, TV, books, magazines. It's everywhere. Yet millions of people still miss the blessing of the Bible.

Why? Because it's not automatic. The Bible is a book of blessing. It promises comfort, strength, hope, wisdom, joy, power, and purpose. But just because you have a Bible doesn't mean you're going to get the benefit from it. James, being his practical self, gives us three steps on how to be blessed by the Bible.

v. 25 is the key verse, "The man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does." The Bible is called the perfect law because it's exactly what I need. It promises freedom and it promises blessing. James gives us three steps:

1. I MUST RECEIVE GOD'S WORD IF I'M GOING TO BE BLESSED BY IT

vs. 21, "Accept the word planted in you." Circle the word "accept". This word in Greek is a hospitality term which literally means "to welcome" -- come on in. If we're going to be blessed by the word of God, first we must welcome the word into our lives. We must be receptive.

James gives an illustration. He says it's planted in you. He gives the illustration of a garden and seed. The Bible, all through Scripture, compares itself to seed. Jesus told the parable of the sower and said, “The word of God is a seed and it's planted in our hearts.” How is it you can take two seeds that are exactly the same and plant them in two different locations and get two different crops in fruitfulness? One soil is prepared and the other is not. How is it that you can take two people and put them in the same service, with the same message, and one person gets blessed by it and the other person says he didn't get anything out of it. One heart was prepared and one wasn't. James says we must receive the word of God with the right attitude. He gives us four attitudes you need to be blessed by God's word. They are hearing-aides.

1. Be careful. I must have a careful attitude. v. 19 "Be quick to listen..." Give it your full attention. Be alert. Don't miss it. "... slow to speak ..." When I'm talking, I'm not listening. God gave us two ears and one mouth so we ought to listen twice as much as we talk. Many of our problems are caused because we're quick to speak rather than being quick to listen. Be careful in your attitude. Be ready. Be intent. Be ready to receive God's word. Be careful.

2. Be calm. Be calm if you're going to receive God's word and be blessed by it. v. 19b "... and slow to become angry ..." A relaxed attitude increases receptivity. If you're relaxed, people can communicate with you more. We work on relaxing people in our services for that reason. We don't hear much when we're angry, upset, bitter, resentful. Bitterness is a barrier, an emotional block that keeps us from hearing God's word. Some may ask, "How come God never speaks to me." Maybe you've got some resentment in your life you need to get rid of. An article I read from Reader's Digest said when you listen it actually lowers your blood pressure. When you speak it raises your blood pressure. James says be calm, be slow to anger.

What is your emotional state, normally, when you come to church on Sunday morning? Do you come with a calm attitude? In many homes on Sunday morning it's kind of hectic. Then we come at the last minute and expect God to speak to us. What preparation? You need to be calm. Maybe you need to get up a little bit earlier.

3. Be clean. v. 21 "Get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent..." Before you can plant the seed you need to do a little weeding. The word "filth" that he says you've got to get rid of is actually the Greek word that means "earwax". When you have a sin in your life it blocks your hearing. It prevents God's word from getting into your heart. He says get rid of the evil, anything that we know that isn't right in our lives. God says, “Lay aside all of the emotional garbage, the old habits, the junk in your life so that God's word can get through to you.”

How can we be clean? By confession. "If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The Living Bible says "Get rid of all that's wrong in your life, both inside and out."

4. Be compliant. Teachable, yielded, humble, willing to be changed. He says "humbly accept the word of God planted in you..." Don't act like you know it all. If you know it all, God's word can't get through to you. Pray, "God, do what You need to do in my life."

God says if you want to be blessed, first you have to receive it, be receptive with these four hearing aids. Reception is not enough. James says we not only need to receive the word of God, but...

2. REFLECT ON THE WORD OF GOD

v. 23 "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself immediately goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." James uses an illustration here. God's word is like a mirror. The purpose of a mirror is to evaluate us. We use them to evaluate ourselves. We look in a mirror to assess the damage from the night before. Then we do something about it. What good is a mirror if we don't do anything about what we see? God says a mirror reflects what we're like on the outside. God's word reflects what we're like on the inside.

Have you ever seen yourself in the Bible? Hebrews says, "God's word detects the thoughts, intents, motives and desires of the heart." Many years ago, Queen Elizabeth, who was beautiful in her youth, ordered that all of the mirrors be removed from Buckingham Palace because she couldn't stand to face that she was growing old.

A lot of people don't read the Bible because they're afraid. They're unwilling to face themselves and see themselves as they really are. They don't want to look in the mirror of God's word.

James gives us three practical ways to reflect on the word of God,

1. Read it. v. 25 "the man who looks intently into the perfect law". He's actually talking more about research that he is reading. Investigating. The word "look" in Greek means "to stoop down and gaze in". It's the word used when Peter went to the tomb on resurrection Sunday when he stooped down and peeked in. He investigated. Focus your attention on the word of God. There are two ways you can look at a mirror. You can gaze at it or you can glance at it. All of us have done both. It's human nature that you can't walk by a mirror and not look at it. When you glance at it, you immediately walk away and forget what you've seen. It didn't do you any good. Many people try to have a quiet time that way. They don't want to gaze at it, but glance at it. Give God five minutes. God says that He wants us to gaze at the word. Look at it intently in detail.

That's how you look intently at the word of God. Look at the details. James says we need to receive the word of God and then reflect on it, first by reading it and second by reviewing it.

2. Review it. v. 25 "...and continues to do so..." That means over and over and over. The Bible calls this meditation. When you think about something over and over, it’s meditation. Meditation is not, put your mind in neutral and contemplate lint in your navel. Meditation means to think seriously about something over and over. If you know how to worry, you can meditate. Take a negative idea and think about it over and over, and it's called worry. Take God's word and think about it over and over, and it's called meditation. The Bible says, “Meditate on God's word”. Jesus said, "...if you continue in My word, then you're truly My disciples." Read it and review it. The outlines I give you each week are not so that you can keep up with me, it's so that you can review it during the week. God says, “You want to be blessed by the word? Review it.”

Psalm 119:97 "I meditate on your word all day long." Every businessman ought to memorize Joshua 1:8. If you'll do one thing God promises to bless you with success. And that promise is IF you meditate on His word.

Read it and review it continually. Stay in it and be faithful to the book. I know some people that are more faithful to Ann Landers or the sports page than they are to God's word. How many of you believe everything you read in the newspaper or watch on TV? Then why do we spend more time reading or watching something we don't believe than something we do?

We need to fill our minds with the word of God. James says, “You want to be blessed? Reflect on the word. Think about it by reading it and reviewing it.”

3. Remembering it. v. 25 "... not forgetting what he has heard." Nothing will do more for your spiritual life than developing the habit of memorizing Scripture. Nothing will benefit your personal spiritual life more than developing the habit of memorizing Scripture. "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." Memorize God's word if you want to be blessed by it. We remember what's important to us.

Take notes, write things down. If you value God's word you're going to take notes on it. Hebrews 2:1 "Write things down so we don't let slip what we've heard." The United States Air Force did a study and found that we forget 95% of what we hear within 72 hours. This statistic depresses a pastor. I spend all week preparing a message to give on Sunday. By Wednesday you've forgotten 95% of what I've said unless you've written it down. James says, “Receive God's word with the right attitude, reflect on God's word by reading it, reviewing it, remembering it.” But even that's not enough.

3. I MUST RESPOND TO THE WORD OF GOD

I must do something about it, act on it, live it, practice it. vs. 22 "Do not merely listen to what the word says and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Practice. What good is a mirror if you look at it and don't do anything about it? The word "listen" in Greek is the word for "auditor". If you audited a class in college you didn't take it for credit, no tests, no responsibility, no research. You were totally relaxed. You just listened, you didn't have any intention of applying it. We have a lot of auditors in the church. They come to church, walk in, hear the word of God, walk out with no intention of ever being changed. I was one for years. I took notes, wrote things down, but it never changed me. We must respond to God's word, let it change us if we're going to be blessed by it.

James says it's self-deception when we don't let it change us. We think that just gaining content is making us spiritually mature. The test of maturity is not knowledge. The test of maturity is character. A lot of people have great Bible knowledge and they are spiritual midgets. I need to practice it, apply it, put it in my life.

And knowledge increases responsibility. The more we know the more we're accountable for. What am I doing about what I know? Jesus said, "To whom much is given, much is required." And James said, "To him who knows to do good and doesn't do it, it's sin." What has God told you that you need to start obeying today?