2 John, 3 John, Jude: Contending for Truth

We read 2 John, 3 John, and Jude and hold them up to real life where false teaching is loud and Christian love is often defined without Scripture. We walk away with a simple test for friendship with Jesus: remain in Christ’s teaching, support gospel workers with wisdom, and contend for the faith without becoming careless with our words. 
• John’s core thread of love and truth held together 
• The “elect lady” as a house church or church region 
• False teachers and the call to remain in Christ’s teaching 
• Love defined as walking in God’s commandments 
• Why we filter culture through Scripture rather than rewriting Scripture 
• Gaius as a model of hospitality and generosity 
• Supporting traveling ministers as co-workers with the truth 
• Diotrophes as a warning about pride and control in church life 
• Jude’s urgent call to contend earnestly for the faith 
• Fighting spiritual battles by building faith, praying, and staying in God’s love 

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Transcript

Welcome And Season Theme

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This is the Out Loud Bible Project Podcast, and I am Mike. In this season of the podcast, we're calling this How to Be a Friend of Jesus. And we're taking a look at the writings of John. We checked out the Gospel of John, his account of Jesus' life, and he also wrote some letters. And he also wrote a prophecy, the book of Revelation. And right now, we're taking a look at these letters that John wrote. A very core message of John, an emphasis that he wanted to make sure that we, his readers, are very clear about this idea of love and truth. He wrote the gospel account of Jesus to try to prove to us who Jesus is and that he is who he says he is, that Jesus is the Son of God, and God is love, and God's word is truth, and Jesus is the word come and made flesh among us. This is core to John's message, and we find it not only in his gospel account, but in his letters as well. We just read 1 John, and now today we're going to read a couple more letters from John, 2nd John and 3rd John. I know their titles aren't very creative, but there they are. And also another letter

Why John Links Love Truth

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uh named Jude. Jude is not written by John, it's written by Jude, or Judas, or Judah. It's all kind of a nickname for that name. Uh, and we'll talk more about these letters as we get to them, because we really are covering three letters today. They're all one chapter long. They fit in an envelope. Okay, so we're gonna read three of these letters today, and I'll introduce and we can talk about each one as we get there. And frankly, we're gonna talk more about them. We're gonna spend more time talking about them than we're gonna spend reading them because they're that short. Uh, but I so much uh rich and practical, powerful takeaways from these letters here, often overlooked, not preached a whole lot. Um, but it's since they're so short, you can really get a grasp on them and uh and really come away with something very practical. So we'll talk about these as we go along. Let's well start with 2 John. 2 John was written to, as he addresses in the first verse of this letter here, uh, to an elect lady and her children, is what

2 John Audience And Threat

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he says. Now, is it uh a literal lady and her literal children? Probably not. People a lot smarter than me have kind of narrowed it down to one of two options. One is that it could be a literal lady who is hosting a house church. That was very common in the day. They didn't meet like we often do today, especially in 21st century United States, about meeting in a building and a big gathering of a few hundred people uh or more. No, that back then the church was new, Christianity was relatively new, and it was not popular. It was, you could be a Christian under penalty of death. And so we find, like we often find in cultures and countries today where Christianity is illegal, we find not large gatherings, but small house churches. And uh this could have been a letter written to a specific church like this, uh, hosted by a lady and the and the people meet in her home. It could also refer to the kind of a church region at large, because the the Greek word for church ekklesia is a is a feminine tense word, and it was not uncommon to refer to the church as a her, you know, in general. So either way, we have to ask ourselves, what do we do about it, right? Because the Bible wasn't written to us, and this letter from John wasn't written to us, but it was written for us, for our benefit, for our uplifting and our encouragement. So John's emphasis on love and truth in this letter is something that we need to lean into and pay attention today. The context here is that there have been some false teachers who are trying to get in on this whole talking about Christianity and the gospel and following Jesus thing and trying to push their own agendas through channels that seem like they line up with the truth, but they're really not. All the more important for us, even today, especially today, to know the truth as it is defined in God's word, to be able to recognize what lines up with it and what does not. And John tells us what we can do when we find things that do not line up with the truth. So let's check out John's second letter here, second John, in the New English Translation. From the elder to an elect lady and

Reading 2 John

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her children, whom I love in the truth, and not I alone, but also all those who know the truth, because of the truth that resides 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 rejoiced greatly because I found some of your children living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded us. But now I ask you, lady, not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but the one we've had from the beginning, that we love each other. Now this is love, that we walk in his commandments. This is the commandment, just as you've heard from the beginning, thus you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world. People who don't confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the Antichrist. Watch out so that you do not lose the things we've worked for, but receive a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and doesn't remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who remains in this teaching 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 any greeting, because the person who gives him greeting shares in his evil deeds. Though I have many other things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come visit you and speak face to face so that our joy may be complete. The children of your elect sister greet you. And that is 2 John. I told you we're gonna spend more time talking about it than we're gonna spend reading it. If you're with me during the reading of the Gospel

Abide In Teaching Not Culture

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of John, you some of these phrases, some of these ideas probably sound familiar. The idea of remaining, it says in verse 9 here of 2 John, if you don't remain in the teaching of Christ, you don't have God, and the one who remains in this teaching has the Father and the Son. This reminds me of John chapter 15, of talking about remaining and abiding, and Jesus being the vine and we being the branches. John applies this idea of remaining in Christ to to pertain to the truth. You've got to remain in the truth of the teaching about Christ, because there's a whole lot of people out there, and I'm talking today, who are saying things about the Bible, about God, about Jesus that do not line up with the truth that we know to be true in Scripture. We need to remain in the teachings of Christ that have been around at this point for 2,000 years. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's irrelevant. Just because it's it has not changed does not mean it's stale. A lot of the teachings today are trying to fit what we read in scripture to apply to the culture today, and saying, well, culture has changed, and so these things don't apply to the culture today, and so we gotta kind of kind of retrofit them to be able to be more applicable today, given what we know of biology or what we know of people today, or what what our culture has become. No, no, no. We don't, we do not take the Bible and tweak it to feel more fitting of today's culture. We have to look at our culture and see it through, filter it through the lens of what scripture has been saying from the beginning. That's what John said. I'm not giving you a new command, I'm just gonna tell you what we've had from the beginning. You gotta love each other. But we don't get to just love with a disregard for the truth. We have to hold love and truth together. Culture today wants to split those and say, well, uh, love, yeah, you gotta love. You gotta love. Love is love, and you gotta love each other, and you gotta love other people. It's like, oh, okay, but but you're also ignoring the truth of scripture. I can't ignore the truth of scripture. And that's the kind of false teaching that we're seeing today. But if we do not remain in the teaching of Christ through the word of God, then we don't have God. Some strong and sobering reminders here from John's second letter. But let's take a look at John's third letter, third John. This

Reading 3 John

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is another personal letter from John, even more personal than the other one. The other one could have been addressed to a whole church. This is really to one specific person. This again fits in an envelope. You know, this appeared in someone's mailbox. And uh specifically, it was written to Gaius, which was a pretty common name. It was a very common Roman name at the time. So uh we don't know exactly who he's referring to here. Probably another leader of a house church, uh, but he's talking to Gaius and commending him for some things that he's hearing he's doing well, and warning him about some other people who are not doing the right things, and encouraging Gaius to stay doing what's right. Again, protecting love and truth. Let's take a look at 3rd John, and uh, we'll talk about it after that. This is again the New English translation. From the elder to Gaius, my dear brother, whom I love in truth. Dear friend, I pray that all may go well with you, and that you may be in good health, just as it's well with your soul. For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, just as you're living according to the truth. I have no greater joy than this to hear that my children are living according to the truth. Dear friend, you demonstrate faithfulness by whatever you do for the brothers, even though they're strangers. They've testified to your love before the church. You'll do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God, for they've gone forth on behalf of the name, accepting nothing from the pagans. Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we become co-workers in cooperation with the truth. I wrote something to the church, but Diotrophes, who loves to be first among them, doesn't acknowledge us. Therefore, if I come I will call attention to the deeds he's doing, the bringing of unjustified charges against us with evil words, and not being content with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but hinders the people who want to do so and throws them out of the church. Dear friend, do not imitate what's bad, but what is good. The one who does good is of God, the one who does what's bad has not seen God. Well Demetrius has been testified to by all, even by the truth itself, and we also testify to him, and you know that our testimony is true. I have uh many things to write you, but I don't wish to write to you with pen and ink. I hope to see you right away, and we'll speak face to face. Peace be with you. The friends here greet you, and greet the friends there by name. And that is third John. So we see here that Gaius has gotten a good reputation for being a generous host of Christian brothers who are missionaries,

Support Gospel Workers Well

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evangelists, traveling teachers, ministers of the gospel, who are ministering in truth, and and and Gaius has correctly determined that they are sharing the one true gospel, right? And so Gaius has been supporting them, being generous, opening his home, sending them with money and all the supplies they need as they go on their way. And John says, Yes, this is good, keep doing this. These teachers and ministers, they're going out on behalf of the name of Jesus, and they're not accepting any payment or any income from the pagans, from the world. And so here's where this applies to us today. Verse 8, John makes a we statement here. So whenever there's like a we here, especially in the in these New Testament letters, we should probably lean in. Verse 8, we ought to support such people so that we become co-workers in cooperation with the truth. So if we're gonna let the Bible affect how we act and respond, we got to ask ourselves, are we doing this? Are we supporting such people, such people being the brothers and sisters who are specifically going out in Jesus' name? And this is kind of their full-time deal. This they're given their full time and attention to the work of preaching, teaching, and the public reading of scripture, like Paul says in in 1 Timothy 4.13. These kind of brothers and sisters who are doing this work of preaching, of teaching, reading the Bible out loud, and they are doing this without taking income from the world, you know, not accepting payment from pagans, not accepting a paycheck, giving up a paycheck from the factory, right? They're not going and getting corporate sponsors, they're not doing all this stuff trying to get the world's money to fund their work. They said, no, I'm I'm going out, I'm going out into the world to do the work of Jesus, and I'm going to be relying on God's generosity through his people. Are we supporting people like that? John says there's a blessing available. We get to become co-workers with them in cooperation with the truth. If you find someone who is speaking and declaring truth, are you supporting someone like that? Maybe it's through your local church. Maybe you're supporting missionaries. Maybe you are uh you found a ministry that you really believe in and you want to see more of in the world. Are you supporting them? And look, of course, it comes down to a heart thing as well. It's not like you give money so that you can say, oh, well, you're doing that work. Keep up the good work, and I'm paying so I don't have to do it. It's like we're not dodging a draft here, right? I mean, hey, look, if if God's putting on your heart to go do this sort of work yourself, paying money someone else to do it isn't obedience. God doesn't want that kind of sacrifice. If he's calling you to go do this work of going and ministering in Jesus' name and putting your full time and attention into it and and trusting his generosity, look, I but I also get that's not for everybody. And so if you're like, no, God's providing through my work, through my job, through whatever income I have, and then great, you get to be a coworker in cooperation with the truth. Just make sure you're supporting someone who is spreading God's truth in the world. You don't have to know them personally. These people that Gaius was supporting were strangers to him, but he's not a stranger to the truth. He's not a stranger to the word of God. And he found, yeah, their message lines up. Let's support this. Let's let's send them on their way with more than they need so they can go out and keep doing this good work. The other side of the coin is someone like Diatrophes that John calls out here. Deatrophes refuses to welcome such ministers, such teachers and preachers. He refuses to welcome them, and he tries to convince other people who want to help support this ministry that that they're wrong, and he kicks them out of the church. What can that look like today? I'll tell you what, I've heard it many times myself, this idea of, well, Paul was a tent maker. He didn't ask for money for his ministry. Pastors should all have a job, all have a vocation, and you should not be paid to preach or teach. If you want to do that work, well then you gotta fund your way to do it. That's a dangerous and unbiblical position to hold because in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul says that a worker, a worker of the gospel is worthy of his wages. And he tells Timothy that those who work hard at preaching and teaching should receive a double honor among the people who receive the benefits of teaching and preaching. Not to mention John's commendation of Gaius here for providing for such ministers. By the way, the whole argument about Paul made tents so that he could provide his own way and not ask for money was very specific to the church in Corinth because he was being accused of doing this for financial gain, and there were lots of other false teachers who were doing this sort of gospel teaching for financial gain, and he wanted to be able to prove that he was not. So for that particular church, Paul wanted to prove a point that he did not ask any money from them so that they couldn't accuse him of that. And others who were watching could not accuse him of that. But Paul certainly received generous donations from other churches and other individuals to be able to fund his full-time work doing so. Anyway, back to 3rd John. Okay, what we can clearly see here through John's commendation and praise of Gaius and his generosity toward the traveling ministers is that there needs to be a place in our heart. If we're going to try to live biblically and obediently to God and be a champion of truth, then we need to support those who are doing such work full time, that they're not taking any money from the corporate world, from the world at large. And we can keep the money in the family, so to speak, to support the brothers and sisters who are out doing this work. Now we have our own ministries wherever we are. We all are have been given the ministry of reconciliation, Paul says. But it's going to look different for different people. Are you supporting the people who are doing this and relying on God's generosity, perhaps through someone like you? It's an important heart check here in such a short letter of 14 verses. But now let's move on to the letter from Jude. Again, Jude is a nickname for Judah or Judas. And Jude, in this case,

Jude Sounds The Alarm

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is a brother of James and a half-brother of Jesus. So again, this season is talking about how to be a friend of Jesus. And we've heard from John in his gospel and his letters and in the his book of prophecy coming up. And now we get to hear from someone else very close to Jesus, one of his own family members here. This is the book of Jude. You could call it the letter from Jude, because again, it's very short in the New English translation. From Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, and brother of

Reading Jude

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James, to those who are called wrapped in the love of God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. May mercy, peace, and love be lavished on you. Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you about our common salvation, I now feel compelled instead to write to encourage you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men have secretly slipped in among you, men who long ago were marked out for the condemnation I am about to describe, ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil and who deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. Now I desire to remind you, even though you have been fully informed of these facts, once and for all, that Jesus, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, later destroyed those who did not believe. You also know that angels who did not keep within their proper domain but abandoned their own place of residence, he is kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of the great day. So also Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire in a way similar to these angels, are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire. Yet these men, as a result of their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and insult the glorious ones. But even when Michael the Archangel was arguing with the devil and debating him concerning Moses' body, he did not dare to bring a slanderous judgment, but said, May the Lord rebuke you. But these men don't understand the things they slander, and they're being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend. Woe to them, for they've traveled down Cain's path, and because of greed have abandoned themselves to Balaam's error. Hence they will certainly perish in Korah's rebellion. Maybe need to brush up on a little bit of Old Testament history to understand some of Jude's references here. These men are dangerous reefs at your love feasts, feasting without reverence, feeding only themselves. They are waterless clouds, carried along by the winds, autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted, wild sea waves spewing out the foam of their shame, wayward stars for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness have been reserved. Now, Enoch, the seventh in descent, beginning with Adam, even prophesied of them, saying, Look, the Lord is coming with thousands and thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment on all and to convict every person of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds they've committed, and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These people are grumblers and fault finders who go wherever their desires lead them, and they give bombastic speeches enchanting folks for their own gain. But you, dear friends, recall the predictions foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, for they said to you, At the end of time there will come scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires. These people are divisive, worldly, devoid of the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, maintain yourselves in the love of God while anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. And have mercy on those who waver. Save others by snatching them out of the fire. Have mercy on others, coupled with a fear of God, hating even the clothes stained by the flesh. Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling and cause you to stand, rejoicing without blemish before his glorious presence, to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time and now for all eternity. Amen. And that's the book of Jude. Jude was going to write another letter. It's kind of like a pastor who's like, you know, I was preparing a message, but then I was thinking about you guys, praying about you guys, and I realized that God

How To Contend Without Slander

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has another message He wants me to share. And that's this letter from Jude encouraging you to contend earnestly for the faith. There's no reason to contend if you don't have an opponent trying to punch you in the face. It's like a boxer's term. You're in the ring, you're being hit, you're being swung at. Contend for the faith. Who's swinging at you? Who's trying to take you down? A whole spiritual realm of powers and authorities who were kicked out of heaven a long time ago and are destined to eternal punishment and are trying to take down as many people as possible on the way. How do we fight back? It's not by slandering the demons and Satan himself. I know it's real easy to feel like you're this kind of pumped-up Christian with the authority of Jesus and and you know Jesus' got your back to say, oh well, Satan, he's just a worthless, no-good idiot who, you know, this and that about no, no, hold hold on. Jude here warns, like, let's not be quick to slander even even Satan himself. I know he's our enemy, but that's not how we fight back against him. We don't we don't intimidate him with our words and thinking so lowly of him. That that's not how we fight. Even Michael the Archangel didn't get in a fight with Satan. He just said, you know what, the Lord rebuke you. I'm gonna let the Lord handle you. I'm gonna continue to serve him the way I know how to serve him. That's all we need to do. That's why Jude says in verse 20, you, dear friends, build yourselves up in the most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, and maintain yourselves in the love of God while anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's how we fight these battles. If Jude thought it was important enough to change the topic of his letter to talk about how to contend for the faith, maybe we should today consider how are we contending for the faith? What does that look like today? Any changes we need to make? It can be a struggle to remain in love and truth, like John and Jude are encouraging us to do. But oh man, we cannot imagine the blessings that are on the other side of the victory when we do so. Thanks for spending some time with me today as we check out these short letters into one longer episode. Uh, thanks so much for being here and look forward to starting the book of Revelation up next. We'll see you then. Thanks for being here

Closing And Revelation Next

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on the Out Loud Bible Project Podcast.