2 and 3 John

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Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you, Lord, for your greatness and your mercy. And we thank you, Lord, for the grace that you have given that has saved us. Father, we just lift up to you still in this time of all the tragedy, the fires, the mudslides, everything going on.

Father, we lift up these families too. And we ask, Lord, for your mercy and your blessings to be upon them. Father, we pray for the emergency crews and for their safety. Father, we pray that as we go to your word tonight, that. Lord, I pray that we will be transformed to the image of your son.

And I pray that we will take heed to what your word has to say to us tonight. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Good evening, everyone. Welcome back to Church of the Bible.

Sorry, I kind of briefly lost my bearings there for a moment. Welcome back. We're gonna finish tonight. We've been in the Epistles of John, and two weeks ago we finished first John, which is five chapters. Today we're going to do second and third John.

They're each one chapter and both chapters are pretty short. Similar themes as the last book, the. The last letter. We talked about walking in love, obeying God's commands, loving one another, and do I know God? Right.

This week in two and three John, we're going to see some similar things that we're going to see walking in love. We're going to see obeying God's commands, but we're specifically also going to see warnings about false teachings show up. So we're going to begin. We're going to just jump in here with verses 1 through 3. It says the elder to the elect lady and her children whom I love in the truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever.

Grace, mercy and peace be with us. From God the Father, will be with us. Sorry. From God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son, the Father, in truth and love. Okay, so I'm gonna throw my notes up here.

I did ask around and, you know, the notes seem to be helpful. We begin here with the greeting. And John follows the typical greeting of the day of the first century. And it begins with addressing. It begins with who is right in the letter.

Normally this will be something like Paul to the Church of Corinth, or James to whoever, or Peter to whoever. John, however, rarely identifies himself through the Gospel of John. He doesn't identify himself until the very end of the gospel when it, when he says, and it is I who is, who is right in this, in the epistles, he kind of remains. He keeps himself very unidentified. And so he just greets the church's the elder.

He just, he's humble. And that's what it is. It's just humble. And he says to the elect lady and her children, we need to apply biblical language to this sentence here and not common sense language. He's not right into a specific lady and her kids, a specific council, but the church throughout the old test that, sorry, the New Testament has frequently been referred to as the Bride of Christ.

We are collectively as the Church, the Bride of Christ. So John is right. And to the church and her children, you know, the converts, those who are coming into the church, and maybe even literal children. He says, this is interesting. Whom I love in the truth.

So we're, we're already beginning to see the reappearance of love, love as a theme in John's writings. But what's really important, I marked this here and I boxed it. For those of you who can scroll in, you can see where I boxed it, but I boxed the words love and truth. He doesn't say that he loves them in truth, but he loves them in the truth. And I found that phrasing very interesting.

And the reason I find that interesting is to understand what he is saying. He is saying that he loves this church in Christ. Remember the apostle John, right? He wrote the famous saying of Christ, I am the way, the truth and the life. And John is going to pull on that theme in this letter here.

So he loves the, the church in the truth. He loves the church in Christ and not only I, but also all who know the truth. So he's also saying that all those who know the truth, that who know Christ loves the bride of Christ, the church. And then he says, because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever. So I wanna two things I want to talk about right here.

First, the truth remains in us, right? When you convert Christianity and you receive The Holy Spirit, you receive the truth inside of you. Which means that even when we have unanswered questions, even when we have things that are unexplainable or things that, that are incomprehensible by us based on the evidence of other things that we have, and the Spirit of God in us, we can have confidence of the truth of these other things. But second, it says, not only does he remain in us, but he will be with us forever. And that draws on the promise.

Jesus made a promise. He said, I will never leave or forsake you. He'll never leave or forsake you. Once you have him, you have him, right? You're stuck with him.

Not that I say stuck in a bad way, right? But you're stuck with him. You have Him. Jesus remains with you eternally. He never leaves you.

And that is a great promise. Because the fact that the Holy Spirit of God which dwells within us will never depart from us, that is the secure and guarantee of our salvation. One final thing here on the greeting. I don't typically spend a lot of time on the greeting, but there's a lot here. He says, grace, mercy and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ.

What I find interesting here is this isn't an uncommon phrase. This is actually very common, especially if you look through the epistles of Paul. But what I find interesting is the difference between the way that John writes and the way that Paul writes. Paul typically writes, right? May you know, Paul typically writes as if he's asking for grace, mercy or peace.

John writes that you will have grace, mercy and peace, right? And so that difference in writing, it stood out to me, right? If you have Jesus, you have grace, right? You had that which you do not deserve. You have mercy, you have the sparing of the penalty of sin, and you have peace because you are no longer at war with God and all things in God will be made complete.

So you have these things. We're going to transition here to our next passage. He says, I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, in keeping with the command we have received from the Father. So now I ask you, dear lady, not as if I were right in you, in your command, but one we have had from the beginning that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to his commands.

This is the command, as you have heard it from the beginning, that you walk in love. Alright? So walking in truth, John's biggest concern, right? And we see this throughout all of his writings, is Truth, truth and love. So the fact that the children are walking in truth means that they are walking in Christ.

And to walk in Christ, to walk in the Spirit, you are going to walk in a couple of things. You're going to walk, most importantly, I think you're going to walk in love. But you'll also walk with peace and patience and self control, among other things. But John's biggest concern that I see in all of his writings, the Gospel and the Epistles, is love that you love God and that you love your neighbor.

So the children here are walking in truth. It says, with keeping with the command we have received from the Father. So what is this command? Well, this command is love. Now I want to, I want to point something out here.

He says he's going to ask, he's going to write to them. Not a new command, but an old command that we love one another. And here's where, where things get a little on the interesting side that, that here's the command to love one another. Here is how he describes love. Love is described as walking according to the commands of God, and here is the commands of God that you walk in love.

So it's almost like it's a big circle. Circular reasoning, right? So we need to understand why this is, it is a circle, but we need to understand why it's not circular reasoning. Circular reasoning is, is something known as a fallacy in which you rely on something within itself to answer itself as, as a basis of fact. So this isn't that, but here is why this works.

So the command is to love. Because every command of God, every moral law, and I'm going to say this, every moral law is an absolute law, right? Things like do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not bear false witness, do not covet, right? These are moral laws, things to do with morality. And I point that out because there are ceremonial laws that apply to the Jews.

But every single moral law, every law that we know is an absolute law, is rooted in love. And here is why. If I love you, I'm not gonna steal from you. If I love you, I will not kill you. If I love you, I will not commit adultery with your wife.

If I love your wife, I won't commit adultery with her. If I love God, I will have no other gods, right, besides him. This is why that Jesus taught in the Gospels in the New Testament. He says, if you love God with all your heart, mind, strength, right, all your soul, and you love your neighbor as yourself, you will find that all of the Laws. Hang on those two things and you will obey the law of God.

So the command. We can simplify all of the commands simply as walking in love.

Verse 7. Many deceivers have gone out into the world. They do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist. Watch yourselves so that you don't lose what you have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.

Anyone who does not remain in Christ's teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one is both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home. Do not greet him, for the one who greets him shares in his evil works. Though I have many things to write to you, I don't want to use paper and ink.

Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete. The children of your elect sisters send you greetings. Okay, this is. John talks a lot about love. And his, I don't say this negatively, has beat the bush on love so much that we get the point of love.

What is super important, though, out of this chapter, out of this passage here is this warning right here. Many deceivers have gone out into the world. Just stop right there for a minute. That's not just true, then. Many deceivers have gone out into the world.

But that's true today. Many deceivers are out in the world, and they're out there for various reasons. They're out there to get your money. They're out there to get power. They're out there to get fame.

They're out there to build a name for themselves. Whatever reason that there is, there are deceivers in the world.

And then he says this. They do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist. Now, people have heard me say that context is king, right? You cannot analyze a text without analyzing the context.

So we need to understand before we even think about this in the context of today, we need to think about it in the context of who John is writing to. John's primary concern right here is that there are people who deny that either Jesus did not come at all or that he did not come in the flesh and merely appeared in the likeness of the flesh.

And so he has a concern that those deceivers out in the world will convince you of one of those two things. And both of those accusations are critical. And hurt Christianity. Christianity is hinged upon the fact that A God himself came down into creation to die for us and B, that he died. If he did not come in the flesh, he cannot die, right?

So the deceivers in this time, that is what they are saying, that either he did not come at all or he did come, but only in the likeness of flesh, but not in flesh. And that was a problem. However, I think in today's world, I don't think that it would be improper or out of reach to also apply this to a different context in the modern day. The modern day context would be to say that there are those who do not confess that Jesus Christ will come again. There are those out there who mock us today and say, look guys, it's been 2,000 years.

Where is he, right? And so they mock and they deceive and they say he's not coming back. So I would say in our context, in our context, we know that he came in the flesh. Archaeologists, even atheists, do not deny that. So in our context, the warning is to beware the people who say he will not be returning.

Then he says, watch yourselves so that you don't lose what we have worked for, but you may receive a full reward. A full reward. Here I'm just going to say this is not talking about your salvation and it's not talking about your reward in heaven as much as you have to look at it as what he said, what we have worked for, what have they worked for? They worked for their neighbors, their co workers, their friends, their family to have salvation. And if they do not watch themselves and get deceived, right?

They will not receive that full reward because those people will be deceived and lost into eternity.

If you're saved, you're saved. You're not lost. The concern right here with what we are working for is that our neighbors, our co workers, family and friends are not deceived, right? That they do receive salvation.

Now this, this next passage, or within the same passage, next verse is critical, says anyone who does not remain in Christ's teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. This is a very interesting statement. Before this statement, what we have is anyone who does not remain in Christ does not have God. If you do not abide in Christ and inside of his teachings, you don't have him. Jesus himself tells us that.

He says, you are like a branch that is cut off and thrown into the fire. But John takes it further, not just not abiding in him. Right, he says, but goes beyond it goes beyond what goes beyond the teachings of Christ goes beyond the gospel. What I'm going to say next.

Before I say what I'm going to say next, let me just switch to the next passage. The next passage is out of Hebrews, kids, not Hebrew, Sorry. Galatians, chapter one. Initially, I was only going to read verses eight and nine, but I felt like I wanted to go back to verse six. He says, I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.

Not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we were, an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you. Accursed be on him. Just so you know that some versions of the Bible say, let them eternally be accursed or let them be damned. And then he says in verse nine, as we have said before, and I'll say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be upon him.

So what we read that was a letter from Paul, what we just read, and what he says is there are people who are turning to. For one, there are people who are preaching different gospels. They're using Christ as a crutch and building upon it. So they're basically using. They don't teach the teachings of Christ, or if they do, they distort it as Paul says, but they use them as a crutch to build their own foundation and lead people astray to a different gospel, to a yoke of a heavy burden.

And then Paul says, look, there is no other gospel. And if anyone preaches, even if I myself, he says, start preaching to you another gospel, then let them be damned. So look what, what John is saying here. Anyone who does not remain in Christ's teaching but goes beyond it, does not have God.

So what I'm going to say is offensive to some people, and I know some people have not liked when I bring this, this topic up and when we come across passages like this, I have to bring it up, okay? Because I grew up, not only grew up, but then as an adult, even taught or I got married in this church and I even taught youth. I was what they called a primary children's teacher in this church. Grew up in a church that Paul would declare a damned church.

Because if we go based off of the word of God and the Bible alone, anyone who does not only remain in Christ's teachings. So I'm going to say this about the LDS Church that I grew up in. And it's important because of where I live and preach. They do not remain in his teachings. In fact, they question his teachings all the time and say, we only believe it to be the word of God as long as it's translated correctly.

Well, then that begs the question, who determines if it's translated correctly? And then they say, well, our prophet does. And then I say, okay, well, your prophet's a man. How do you know that he's translating it correctly? If the Scriptures are already written to be understood by people, they were written for that.

They don't abide in his teaching. But then they go beyond. We talked about this on Wednesday when we saw the rich man and Lazarus, right? Lazarus was in Abraham's bosom and the rich man who was unnamed was in hell. And there was this great divide that they could not cross.

And we talked about the difference between that and what Mormonism teaches about three levels of heaven. And people from higher heavens can go down to lower heavens and whatnot. They don't remain in it. They, they do not have God. And the offensive thing for me to say is the people who have believed in it and lived in it and died in it have died without God.

I know that's offensive, but it's the truth.

And not just, you know, I pick on Mormons because I grew up Mormon. It's when you want to tear apart another perspective, you need to be able to understand that perspective. I do not understand the perspective of Catholicism as well as somebody who grew up Catholic. I do not understand the perspective of somebody who is or was Jehovah's Witness as well as someone who was and came out of it. So I use Mormonism to drive these points home.

Not to be offensive, but because I understand their perspective. I know it very well, I taught it. And so I can say they do not have God, right? But that's not to say they're the only ones without God. Catholics don't remain in his teaching.

Jehovah's Witness don't remain in his teach. In Seventh Day Adventists, do not remain in his teach in Muslim Buddhism, all these things don't remain in this teaching. But the biggest concern here that I can see, especially in our modern day context, are churches that slap the name of Christ on their building, call themselves Christian, but go way beyond the teachings of Christ. To add all these things to you, this is, this is a warning from God to avoid that, to not get caught up in It. And then he says, the one who remains in Christ's teach and has both the Father and the Son, right?

The one who abides in Christ and Christ abides in him. He has the Father and the Son. Then the next passage or verse, if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home and do not greet him.

I'm gonna say this about, about this because before studying this specific chapter to preach this specific sermon, if Mormon missionaries knocked on my door, I'd bring them into my home.

This tells me not to, right? Because they come with a false gospel. Now I'm not going to tell you, don't preach the gospel to them. In fact, every Mormon missionary I see and can get the chance, so you can bet I'm going to share the gospel with them. But what it does say is do not allow them to share their gospel with you.

We already know their gospel is false. We already know that it does not bring life and that it does not bring you to Christ. And when you allow them. I talked, I can't remember how long, if it's been three or four or even five years ago now, I talked to a guy, I took some kids to a dance, square dancing. And in southern Utah, if you're part of any square dancing group, whether you're Mormon or not, it occurs in a Mormon church.

So I took some kids square dance and their parents asked me to bring them in chaperone. And the DJ was there and I was talking to him and he said that, that he is, was a Mormon bishop, but before he used to be a Baptist pastor.

And so I told him, I said, and, and I upset him. I said, look, I'm going to tell you now, if you were ever a Baptist pastor and are now a Mormon bishop, you never understood what you taught at all. Because you can't understand the Bible. You cannot have this knowledge and understanding and then be persuaded into that lie. And that is the biggest reason that he warns, do not bring them into your home.

Don't greet them right. Don't give them the chance to plant seeds of deceit into your heart and your mind.

Because no matter how well you think you know the Bible, obviously, as this Baptist preacher turned Mormon can demonstrate, he's not the only one. You can be tricked, you can be deceived. Satan has been around a lot longer than you have. He knows how to push your buttons. He knows how to, he knows what needs to be said to you to deceive you.

And so John says, do not receive them Like I said, that doesn't mean don't talk to them, right? If, if I pass somebody in Walmart who's wearing one of those missionary tags, you can bet I'll share the gospel. But it's going to stop there. If they don't receive it, they don't receive it. And that's not on me.

But I will not and should not. And we're told not to give them a chance to implant those seeds of doubt and those seeds of deceit, of lies into our hearts. That ends the Epistle of Second John. So we're going to jump straight into Third John and looking at the time, and it's short, so we have time to get through it. The Elder to my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

Dear friend, I pray that you are prospering in every way and are in good health just as your whole life is doing well. For I was very glad when fellow believers came and testified to your fidelity to the truth. How you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this to hear that my children are walking in truth. So the greeting very much the same as, as the last chapter or letter.

He uses the phrase the elder rather than his name. But this time he's not addressing a specific church, but he's addressing a specific person. This person is Gaius, who he loves. And he says this about Gaius. Fellow believers, other believers are coming to Paul and testifying about his fidelity to the truth and how he walks in the truth, right?

So we all know what infidelity is. So he's said to be walking, infidelity, walking. He has fidelity to the truth, trying to find a way to say that and not get tongue twisted. In other words, he's adhering to it, he is obeying it and walking in it. And other Christians are testifying it.

So I've asked this question before, and this question was asked last week by my feeling guest who came in and talked to us. If our government today started rounding up Christians and putting them in prison, is there enough evidence in your life that says you're a Christian? Enough evidence they can pick you up and throw you in prison for being a Christian? I would say with Gaius, the answer is yes, because he's this relatively unknown guy and people are coming and finding Paul and telling Paul about how he's walking in the truth. And Paul says he has no greater joy than that, that he says, my children.

When he says my children, Paul used the same phrase, right? And in reality, if you have a responsibility, if you lead someone to the foot of the cross and they get saved. You have that responsibility to aid them, to be with them. So in a sense, people you lead to the cross become your children. He says, no greater joy than this, that they obey the truth, that they walk in it.

Then he says, dear friend, you are acting faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, especially when they are strangers. They have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, since they set out for the sake of the name, except in nothing from the pagans. Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can be co workers with the truth. Okay, so he's acting faithfully in everything he does.

I only highlighted that because what an example to follow.

We're actually instructed everything that we do, everything whether. Whether it's working at a car wash, washing people's cars, to put in tar in the cracks on pavement, to building homes, to. It can be serving burgers at McDonald's. Whatever you do, we are instructed in the Bible, do it as if it is unto the Lord, right? All.

All of your service, all of your labor, do it as unto the Lord. So he says, you are acting faithfully in whatever you do. He doesn't specify specific things because whatever he does, he is doing it faithfully. But then, look what he says. This is emphasized especially when they are strangers.

So this tells us something. It doesn't matter if they're people he knows. He acts faithfully toward them. He loves them, he feeds them, clothes them, probably invites them into his home to spend the night, right? He.

He shows the love of God. And I would say it seems weird to just invite someone into your home to spend the night. But I'm going to tell you, in the last few years, I've gone on several mission trips where I. I didn't stay in hotels. I stayed in strangers homes.

People I've never met or talked to didn't even have their phone number. I just had their address and showed up at their door. I remember the last one. I was unsure if I was at the right place, so I had all my bags in hand and knocked on the person's door. And when they answered, I'm like, did I find the right address?

It seems strange, but it still happens. So look what he says. He says, they have testified of your love before the church. So these strangers, I believe, are the people from the last passage who are reporting to Paul, right? These are people who know Paul or are affiliated with Paul or meet Paul who have come and met Gaius and stayed with him and seen his love, and then have gone back and reported to Paul the love that he has for them, the love that he has for people he has never met or talked to.

Back then, they didn't have phones. So, you know, he never called them up on the phone and said, hey, I want to get to know you before you come to my house. He just welcomed them. So he says, you will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, since they went out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the pagans. So I want to break this down.

What he's saying is the church should support ministry workers, gospel workers, whether they're pastors or missionaries or evangelists. If they are dedicating their life to the gospel, to sharing the gospel, to shepherding people with the gospel, the church should support them. Here is why they are. They are going out for the sake of the name. I love how John puts for the sake of the name.

He could have just put for the sake of Christ. And that's what he means. You'll notice in your Bible the word name is capitalized, right? The church should support them because they are going out for the sake of Christ's church, of his bride. But here's the second part of that.

Why the church? Well, it says they're accepting nothing from the pagans. What's more acceptable for me to ask the churches that are already established, that already walk in the ways of God to support me on my missionary trip, or to go and preach the gospel to someone and then ask that person to pay me for the work that I did and they were bringing them to Christ.

If we go out asking everyone we preach to, to pay us, nobody is going to come to Christ, right? That that puts a burden on them. God told us to freely. We have received the gospel to freely give. So when you go and you are preaching, this says pagans.

Remember, a Jew is right in this. So let's, in our context, say non Christians, when you're going to preach in the gospel, we don't charge them.

Not only would that put a burden on them, that puts a burden on the work of Christ. Because what people see if they're doing that is you want money. However, Jesus also says that the worker, the laborer, is worthy of his wages, right? And I'm going to say this. It costs money to get in a car and drive to LA and go preach to lost people, if that's what God called you to do.

So it has to be supported from somewhere. And John says the church. Now, when John says the church, I'm gonna be more specific. He's not even referring, like, just to your local specific church, but the church as a broader. A lot of my support has come from this church, But a lot of my support has also come from TLC and Cedar City and Cross Point and Provo and other churches I don't know the names of up in Draper and Logan and Ogden.

Right. The church of Christ as a whole should support the work of Christ and for the sake of Christ. And he says, and we should do this so that we can be co workers with the truth. I love what he says here. Co workers.

So many people think that if you're preaching the gospel and they're preaching the gospel, that you are actually competitors. And I'm going to tell you this. I don't. I don't care if I go and preach the gospel to someone here in Milford and they receive Christ and they end up at the Baptist Church 3/4 of a mile down the road from me. I don't care.

I'm not competing with that church. And if that's where they end up, I'm only praising God that they came to him. It doesn't matter that they didn't end up in my church. We're not competing. We are co workers for the truth.

We are co workers for the kingdom of God, not competitors. Let's continue. I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes. I hope I said that right. Diotrephes.

Shani says she doesn't know, so we're going with it. Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them, does not receive our authority. This is why, if I come, I will remind him of the works he is doing, slandering us with malicious words. And he is not satisfied at that. He not only refuses to welcome fellow believers, but even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the church.

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God. The one who does evil has not seen God. Everyone speaks well of Demetrius, even the truth itself. We also speak well of him.

And you know that our testimony is true. I have many things to write to you, but I don't want to write to you with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends send you greetings.

Greet the friends by name. Okay. So, Diotrephes, look at the contrast to him and Gaius. He loves to have first place among them, right? Remember a few weeks ago in our study in Luke, we read where Christ said that when you go to a banquet or to invited to a dinner or something, to not sit in the most prestigious place, but sit back in.

In the least prestigious place and allow. Allow the host to promote you up further. Right? Whoever humbles themselves will be exalted, but whoever exalts himself will be humbled. Well, here is a guy, he likes to to be exalted and he ignores the authority of the church and the apostles.

It's interesting as I read this, right, it says he not only refuses to welcome fellow believers, but stops those who wants to do so and expose them from the church. I just, I think of a church that I'm not gonna name in Cedar City where this exact type of thing happened. I find it interesting. Shawnee is making faces at me. She knows what church I'm talking about.

Guys, there are people out there who they just. They want the authority, the power, the prestige. They want everything. And unless you align with what they want and their goals and their authority, they will refuse you. And they even will refuse others who want to go out, who want to help make new believers, or I should say disciples.

God makes believers, not us. So here's what he says. He says, don't imitate what is evil, but what is good. If something is evil, don't do it. If you see someone doing something evil, even if they claim to be a Christian, even if they are your pastor, don't do it.

But imitate, copy that. Which is good. The one who does good is of God. Now, I'm going to stop right here because I've said this before. Doing a good deed does not mean you're doing what is good.

Going out and feeding the homeless is a good deed, but that doesn't mean that you are doing good. Because I'm gonna ask, why are you out there feeding the homeless? Are you out there feeding the homeless because you're on parole and have so many hours of community service?

You're doing a good deed, but you are not doing it because you're a good person. Are you doing it because you want your community to see you and give you a pat on the back? Like, hey, Matt's out there every Saturday night giving warm meals to the homeless people doing a good deed when I'm doing it for my self elevation, you know, to elevate myself. Or are you doing it because you love them and you don't Care if your name is known or if you are ever seen. But you're doing it because God has, has asked you to care for the poor and care for the homeless and clothe them and feed them.

Why are you doing it? The one who is doing it with pure motive is the one who has God, who has Christ inside of them. Well, then the next statement. The one who does evil has not seen God. I'm gonna say this about.

You know, the same way I just talked about. Just doing a good deed doesn't make you a good person. Just doing a sin doesn't mean you don't know God. Because guys, you're gonna sin every day. Every one of us are just being Christian does not mean we're not sinners.

But what Paul. Paul. I'm so used to going through the Pauline letters. What John is getting at here is if your life is characterized by evil, is your daily life a pattern doing evil things? A pattern of practicing consistently evil sins or evil addictions or evil things that are not characteristic?

We've talked about the difference between the works of the flesh and the works of the Spirit. Is your life characterized overwhelmingly by the light, by the fruits of the Spirit? Then you are. You do good. That doesn't mean you're not going to have the sporadic sense.

Or is your life characterized by continual evil? Right. And the works of the. Of the flesh? Then you do not know God.

Right? He then ends this letter. He says, I have many things that I want to write to you. He says, but I what he wants to rather talk face to face. And he ends, he says, peace to you.

The friends send you greetings and greetings the friends there by name.

As we come to an end of we are. We just ended the Epistles of John. So next week we are going to begin study through the Psalms. I wanted to do it for a long time and I just don't know how to do it because some of the Psalms are only two verses long. Some of you know, how do you do a whole sermon on two verses?

So. But we're gonna do it. I've been feeling that to do it for a long time. And I'm just mentioning this now because I forgot to do announcements at the start. So next week we'll be doing psalms also.

Everyone in here, I believe, already knows about our mobile app. But just in case there's someone in here who doesn't or someone who ends up watching this on Facebook or somewhere else and doesn't we now have a. Our mobile apps are published. They're out both on Apple, you know, the Istore and on Google Play store. So download them.

That's how you're going to get updates about when church starts. You can join church. If you have a friend who you want to invite to church and they don't have the mobile app or you don't even have a link to the mobile app, you can let me know and I can, I can still send you or them a link to get in. And then finally I told everyone I was going to start doing a podcast or a, and, and a blog and whatnot, devotionals. So I'm gonna publish those.

They'll be on a separate site, but I'm gonna publish them in the app. My only question to the church, and you can just, you can individually text me what you want is when I publish a new devotional or I publish a new podcast to the app, do you want a notification through the app letting you know there's something there you can watch or read, or would you prefer to just see it when you go in and look at it? And I only ask because I don't want to bombard you guys with notifications that you do not want to receive. So please let me know what you want in regards to that and we'll take care of it. And then Wednesday, 6:30, we'll continue our Bible study through the book of Luke.

We are almost done with the book of Luke. We only have a few weeks left, so we're getting close. And with that, we're gonna go to prayer. Right after our closing prayer, we are going to have the Lord's communion. So we've already got that ready here.

We'll give everybody right after prayer a moment to get their communion if they're going to stay and participate. And I will see you all next week on Wednesday. Father, thank you for this time, Lord. Thank you for your word, Lord. Thank you.

We know that all of your scripture edifies us. Father, I pray that we'll be encouraged to walk in your love, to love one another as you loved us. I pray, Lord, that you will protect us, protect our hearts and our minds from the deceivers out there, from those who would. Who would lead us away from you, who would try and bring us into something that is not godly, into something that just elevates them, or into something that becomes pagan. Father, I pray that you'll be glorified as we walk faithfully in everything that we do, as we do what we do unto you.

And, Father, as we love even the strangers who we don't know, Father. We just pray for your glory at this time. In Jesus name, amen.