Today, Friday October 1
“The Truth”
2 John 1:1-4 “The Elder, To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.”
What a joy it is to take a few minutes every day to share “the Truth” from God’s Word with you! Today we will begin a study in one of the smallest books in the Bible, 2 John. A little over five years ago as lead pastor at Rainbow Forest Baptist Church I decided to preach though the entire Bible starting in Genesis. I thought I would complete this before I left but on my last Sunday I preached my final message on the book of 2 Peter. Since we just finished studying 1 John here on Pastor’s Chat, I feel lead to fulfill my desire to complete preaching and teaching through the entire Bible by continuing with 2 John, 3 John, Jude and Revelation.
So, that will give you an idea of where we are going over the next several months with Pastor’s Chat! I trust as we share God’s truth with you every day it will impact and make an eternal difference in your heart and also your daily walk!
Second John was of course written by the Apostle John and he calls himself “the elder”. He was probably in his late nineties or even a hundred years old when he wrote this brief letter which was written to a godly mother and her children. Some Bible students have concluded that "the elect lady" refers to a local church and that "her children" are the believers fellowshipping in the church. "Thy elect sister" (2 John 13) would then refer to a sister church that was sending Christian greetings.
While it is true that John does address a group in this letter (note the plural in 2 John 6, 8, 10, 12), it is also true that he addresses an individual (2 John 1, 4-5, 13). Perhaps the solution is that a Christian assembly was meeting in this home, along with the family of the "elect lady," so that John had both the family and the congregation in mind. Paul appears to say the same to the various churches that he was writing to in. (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Phile. 2)
John was concerned that this godly woman not permit anything false to come into her house (2 John 10) or into the assembly. The dominant feelings in this little epistle are those of friendship and joy, even though these are mixed with concern and warning. If you and I are to keep our lives and our homes true to Christ, then we must have the same characteristics as this family to which John wrote.
John used the word truth four times in this salutation, so it is an important word. Basically, it means "reality" as opposed to mere appearance, the ultimate that is the basis for all that we see around us. Jesus Christ is "the truth" (John 14:6) and God's Word is "truth" (John 17:17). God has revealed truth in the person of His Son and in the pages of His Word. He has given us "the Spirit of Truth" to teach us and to enable us to know truth (John 14:16-17; 16:13).
J. Vernon McGee who passed away over thirty-three years ago wrote: “Thank God, we will have the truth forever. In this day when you can't believe politicians, you can't believe college professors, you can't believe the scientists, and you can't believe the military leadership, it's nice to have someone in whom you can believe -- the Lord Jesus Christ.” You would have thought he wrote this yesterday considering the news we are hearing these days!
May the Lord help us today to both know the Truth and also walk in the Truth!
God bless!