If you think of this sermon series as a ham and turkey sandwich, the first week was the piece of bread laid down with some condiments, last week was the Black Forest Ham (only the best for LifeWay), and this week is the delicious deli turkey that we’re going to lay on top. That is to say, we are continuing the meat of the message with the second part of the body of the letter, verses 7-11. Next week, we’ll wrap things up with the last piece of artisan bread (maybe a sourdough?) to go on top to complete the sandwich…I mean series…
(Unsplash/Sara Cervera)
Last week, I ended the sermon by stating that the elect are those who remain in obedience to walk in truth and love. I tried to show that John explains that obedience is walking in truth and love. To walk in truth means to hold fast to the truth of the gospel, the truth of scripture, the truth that Jesus is the way. To walk in love means to be obedient to that truth and let that truth impact how we interact with everyone, both believers and non-believers. To walk in love means to make the conscious choice to love those around us.
This Sunday, as we continue into the meat of the message, I want to show how obedience to walk in love (that is, to walk in truth!) ought to lead us to hold so fast to truth that we can recognize any false teacher around us. In recognizing false teachers, we need to have the confidence to know how to break relationship so as to protect ourselves and others from false teachings.
To be honest, this is extremely difficult. We have to know what tough love looks like biblically. We are called to love everyone and yet have nothing to do with false teachers so as to not (as verse 11 says) have a share in their evil works. Love, at some point, means having nothing to do with someone.
We may need to ask the question of ourselves: is there someone, some organization or teacher or ministry, that we may need to cut ties with in order to hold fast to the truth of the gospel? Is there someone who claims to be a Christian and yet preaches a different gospel, or who may deny some part of the faith, like the divinity of Jesus or the truth of scripture, that we need to strongly rebuke so as to hold fast to our reward that we’ve worked for? What is that reward we’re supposed to hold onto, anyway?
This passage is rich and deep with biblical truths that we need to wrestle with. I hope that you can prepare yourself for Sunday through participating in the reading plan and devotionals. If you are not getting them yet, you can sign up here. I’d also love to encourage you to connect with others about the sermon, whether it’s in a small group or just with your family or with a few close friends. Talk through the sermon and use the discussion guide to think through how you may apply what we are reading to our daily lives.
To go along with your reading, we have also created two Spotify playlists for you to listen to as you read. One playlist is all instrumental: Songs For Your Quiet Time. The other playlist is different worship: Songs for Worship Throughout the Day.
Join us this Sunday morning at 10 a.m. though one of the three doors to LifeWay Church:
- 1: Watch online in your own home
- 2: Join a small group and stream the service together
- 3: Come to church and join us inside the building (remember to register!)
In His Service,
Kevin