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New Testament Studies: II and III John -- David Pawson
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Heavenly Father you know the worst about
each one of us and yet you still love us
you know everything that we've done and
said and felt and thought this past week
yet you still want us to come and
worship we know that you can only accept
someone who has Clean Hands and a pure
heart and there isn't one of us who has
the confidence that we are fit to
come but for the sake of Jesus Christ we
are sure of a
welcome and therefore with confidence
with a boldness that surprises ourselves
and sometimes irritates other people we
gladly come and call you our
father and we pray that as you know
everything about us we may get to know
more about
you as you know the innermost thoughts
of our hearts we pray that you will help
us to understand your mind to discover
something this morning from your word
word that we never knew
before to stretch our
imagination to enlarge our thinking to
love you with all our
minds but we pray that you'll Deliver Us
from anything that is purely academic or
intellectual help us to translate what
we think and what we learn into practical
practical
activity into a character that is more
like Jesus every day into a life that
brings glory to your name and joy to other
other
people we pray for those who are on
holiday at this time and we ask that you
will direct them to some fellowship this
day where they can worship in spirit and in
in
truth we pray for those who must worship
you this morning lying on their backs on
a sick bed we pray for those who are
working so that we may enjoy certain
facilities and services that are
necessary to life and we we pray that
you will bless all your people this day
and add to their number so that when the
Sun goes down tonight there may be
hundreds thousands more all over the
world who have entered Your Kingdom and
who love the Lord who never did when
they woke up this morning and this we
ask in jesus' name and for his sake
God a month ago we finish studying the
first letter of John so this morning I'm
going to talk to you about the second
and the third letter of John two little
letters that come straight after one
John right towards the end of the Bible
just before the Book of Revelation if
you haven't got a Bible and would like
one just raise your hand we'll see you get
get
one the second and third letter of
John 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 which abides
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
Father's son in truth and
love I rejoiced greatly to find some of
your children following the truth just
as we have been commanded by the father
and now I beg you lady not as though I
were writing you a new commandment but
the one we have had from the beginning
that we love one
another and this is love that we follow his
his
Commandments this is the Commandment as
you have heard from the beginning that
you follow love for many deceivers have
gone out into the world men who will not
acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ
in the flesh such a one is the deceiver
and the antichrist
look to yourselves that you may not lose
what you have worked for but may win a full
full
reward anyone who goes ahead and does
not abide in the doctrine of Christ does
not have
God He Who abides in the doctrine of
Christ has both the father and the
son if anyone comes to you and does not
bring this Doctrine do not receive him
into the house or give him any greeting
for He Who greets him shares his Wicked
work though I have much to write to you
I would rather not use paper and ink but
I hope to come to see you and talk with
you face to face so that our joy may be
complete the children of your elect
sister greet
you and then another short letter he
must have written at the same time when
you write all your thank you letters at
Christmas you tend to repeat yourself a
bit and the letters look look like each
other a bit so look at the second one
the Elder to the Beloved gas whom I love
in the truth beloved I pray that all may
go well with you and that you may be in
health I know that it is well with your
soul for I greatly rejoiced when some of
the Brethren arrived and testified to
the truth of your life as indeed you do
Follow The Truth No Greater Joy can I
have than this to hear the my children
follow the
truth beloved it is a loyal thing you do
when you render any service to the
Brethren especially to strangers who
have testified to your love before the
church you will do well to send them on
their Journey as befits God's service
for they have set out for his sake and
have accepted nothing from the Heathen
so we ought to support such men that we
may be fell fellow workers in the truth
I have written something to the church but
but
diores who likes to put himself first
does not acknowledge my
authority so if I come I will bring up
what he is doing prating against me with
evil words and not content with that he
refuses himself to welcome the
Brethren and also stops those who want
to welcome them and puts them out of the
church beloved do not not imitate evil
but imitate good he who does good is of
God he who does evil has not seen
God Demetrius has testimony from
everyone and from the truth itself I
testify to him too and you know my
testimony is true I had much to write to
you but I would rather not write with
pen and ink I hope to see you soon and
we will talk together face to face peace
be to you the friends greet you greet
the friends every one of
them if you like reading other people's
letters you should really enjoy the New
Testament because 21 out of 27 books are
letters and indeed letters are often
much more revealing and much more
helpful to give you insights than simply
reading a prepared paper or essay that's
why in many
autobiographies you tend to get the life
and letter
of Sono the latest one published this
week is the published correspondence of
grouo Marx I'd Lance through that the
young people know who I'm talking about
and i' Lance through that in a Bookshop
and it was very revealing to read some
of the letters that well-known comedian
has written much more revealing than
seeing his
films and in the same way God has seen
that most of the truth that he had to
give us in the New Testament came to us
in the form of letter letters some of
them are public written to a whole
church but many of them are private
written to one
individual and John's letters three of
them the first is public but the second
two are very private they're like
postcards they're short they say such
things as hope you are well hoping to
see you soon they're very typical
postcards and yet they're full of the
truth of God and they're most revealing
one is written to a lady and the other
is written to a
gentleman and I hope I won't offend
either sex by saying that the second
letter points up one of The Temptations
or weaknesses of feminine nature and the
third letter points one of the dangers
of masculine nature and that keeps the
balance so either I'm in with everybody
this morning or I've offended the lot of
you well now John the Apostle who wrote
this letter reveals as he writes how
tender how warm how sympathetic a
personality he is and yet How firm he
can be in relation to right and
wrong and yet when you read back through
the gospels and discover what kind of a
man he was by Nature the contrast is
startling when you first meet him he was
such a bad-tempered young man that Jesus
said I'm going to give you a nickname
Thunder and he called him Bones which is
Hebrew for Thunder that was the kind of
man he was he's revealed as a bigot a
man who says if he's not in arot he must
be stopped doing anything he's revealed
as a scheming ambitious man who says
Master when you get into into your
kingdom can I have the best
seat and this man wiy bad tempered
scheming ambitious bigoted becomes the
Apostle of love and quite frankly the
the first thought I had when preparing
this morning was There's Hope for me and
there's hope for you if the the Lord
Jesus can do that with a man like that
and enable him to write letters like
this then he can do it for any of us
human nature can be
changed my Baba recently said to me
human nature can't be changed and I said
that's a lie and it's a lie of the devil
actually but human nature can be changed
thank God it can or wouldn't Heaven be
miserable I wouldn't want to go to
heaven if you L were there and you
wouldn't want to go if I was there as we
are can you imagine living at Close
Quarters forever with people as they are
but if he can do this for a person and
make them this kind of character and
personality then isn't Heaven going to be
be
lovely now that'll come up again later
the first thing I ought to say really is
that both letters are about the same subject
subject
he's dealing with only one thing in both
letters I don't know if you spotted it
he's dealing with
hospitality the people you have in your
home and this is one of the most
prominent themes of the New Testament
Christians are to be given to
hospitality they are to have an Ever
open door they are to open their hearts
and homes to other
people it's even a qualification to be a
deacon or an elder in the New Testament
and a deacon or an elder who keeps his
home shut to people ought not to be in
office but there are two particular
needs for Hospitality in the New
Testament days which we don't have to
quite such a degree today here's the
first for 300 years they had no church
buildings and if some Christians didn't
open their homes to others the church
would never have
grown if Christians had kept their front
door shut there would have been no
Services no worship and we wouldn't have
been here
today now of course we are in a position
to erect Church buildings do you know
the first thing I did when I got back to
Guilford was go to mme before I went
home and I was thrilled to see what I
did see there even if it's a bit
negative at the moment but I was
thrilled to see it we're going to have a lovely
lovely
building but I hope that when we get
that building we won't stop meeting in
each other's house
homes we shall lose a great deal if we
do now from the very beginning
Christians did meet in larger buildings
as well as their homes they met in the
temple from the day of Pentecost every
day they met in borrowed lecture halls
and all kinds of large buildings but
again and again the New Testament
letters are addressed to the church that
is in your
house and every Christian should be
willing to open his home to fellowships
and not say oh well I have enough chairs
or it's too small or anything like that
or other people have a better home every
Christian should say my home is the
Lord's home for the Lord's people given to
to
hospitality now they needed it because
they had no church
buildings but they also needed it for
another reason there were two kinds of
ministers in the New Testament those who
stayed put and those who moved on and
there still are and some people are much
better if they move on and some people
are much better if they stay
put the pastors and teachers are better
if they stay in one place and go on
teaching and go on pastoring the
prophets and evangelists and preachers
are better moving on bringing a fresh
voice and a Fresh Approach and so in the
New Testament you've got a combination
of ministers who stay put and ministers
who move around and that's a really
healthy picture and I hope we shall
always have it but the ministers who
move around need to stay somewhere and
in those days there were no hotels no
nice places to stay there were ins but
they were infested with Vermin and
disease and were known as immoral places
and an inkeeper was little better than a
pimp and so the Christian ministers
didn't stay in those
places and there was a real need for
them to go somewhere and have a roof
over their heads and therefore two and
three John are written to Christians is
describing the need for giving
Hospitality to preachers evangelists moving
moving
around now then comes the crunch I told
you that two John was written to a lady
and three John to a men and here I tread
very wearily and delicately and I hope I
tactfully behind every Act of
hospitality lie two Christian
principles love and
and
truth and our Hospitality must reflect
both Hospitality in a Christian home is
not just an act of love it is an act of
Truth and if you underline the two words
Truth and Love in these two letters
you'll find they're all the way through
I love you in truth you're following the
truth follow love truth love truth
love love opens the door of your home
and Truth shuts
it and Hospitality in a Christian Home
must walk a knife edge between the two
knowing when to open the door in love
and when to shut it in
Truth Christian Hospitality can be too
narrow for love and too wide for
truth our front door should be a certain
width no wider no narrower there are
limits to Christian hospitality and we
should fling our doors open right to the
Limit but not an inch Beyond it now that
may sound very startling to some of you
let me then elaborate it as John does to
the lady John says your hospitality is
in danger of being too
wide to the men he says your hospitality
is in danger of being too narrow
and speaking for the men I'm quite sure
he's right about the men and I'll leave
the ladies to speak for the ladies
putting it differently ladies tend to
overemphasize love at the expense of
Truth and men tend to overemphasize
Truth at the expense of
Love ladies will tend to open the home
to too many people men will tend to open
it to too few
and that's presumably why God in his
Mercy arranged that a man should marry a
woman and start a home together and then
they can argue about it and decide who
they open to and who they closed to in
other words the lady's attitude can be too
too
soft by allowing their heart to rule
them and the man's attitude can be too
hard by allowing his head to rule him
and the balance is truth and
love together and let the two things
determine your
hospitality in the L's case the lack of
Truth would lead to wrong
belief in the man's case the lack of
Love would lead to wrong Behavior now
that's simple and God in his Mercy put
the two letters together so we'd get the
balance and the reason I'm taking both
this morning even if we have to pack it
in is because I don't want you to think
I'm unbalanced one way or the other I'm
neither anti- feminine nor anti
masculine I'm for them both both now
let's take the second letter and the
ladies can listen to this the men can
have 20 minutes
rest who is the elder who writes the
letter many people have thought that as
well as John the Apostle there was some
other shadowy figure called John the
Elder you'll find this in school
textbooks and other things but will you
take my word for it there is no evidence
whatsoever for anybody other than John
the Apostle being the Elder who wrote
this why did he not call himself the
Apostle because when a man is traveling
around as a missionary he is an apostle
when he settles down in one place he's an
an
elder so when he's moving around as an
itinerant preacher he's an apostle when
he's in one Fellowship he's an elder
which is why the Apostle Peter writing
the letter of Peter to the church says I
am your fellow Elder so it's John the
Apostle just want to clear that up in
case any of you'd heard the other but
who is the
lady this elect lady and Scholars and
commentators divide a great deal over
whether this is one individual a lady
and her physical children or whether
this is John's way of talking to a
church in many cases the word you in
this letter is plural not singular and
many of the remarks seem to be addressed
to a church rather than a lady what's
the answer I think the answer is both are
are
right I imagine that here is an a
widow who has a home and in that home
meets a church and this Widow has
spiritual as well as physical children
she's one of those chosen ladies of God
who's done such a lot for other people
in the name of the Lord and she's got a
church in her house and John writes to this
this
lady and her
children and he says this it could be
misunderstood by unbelievers indeed it
was he says I love
you now for an apostle to be writing to
an elect lady and saying I love you do
you know that in the early days because
the Christians used the word love so
much there were all sorts of wild rumors
about orges and other things that went
on in church was so misunderstood people
who don't know pure love have no idea
what we mean by it and John says to this
lady I love you
he also says to the men I love you that
could be
misunderstood but you know Jesus was a
marvelous example of one who loved men
and women perfectly those who have been
transformed by Jesus can say to all men
and all women I love
you but you notice that it's a love in the
the
truth now what does that mean let's
first look at the word truth to Love In
Truth means to love someone as they really
really
are one of the reasons for getting to
know each other well enough before you
get married and having a period of
Engagement is to know each other long
enough to be sure that you love each
other as you
are and not to have an image on a
pedestal a kind of dream that you've
projected onto the other person that
will be shattered very quickly when
you're living in the close quarters of
marriage to love each other as you are
to Love In Truth means to love a person
as they really
are but John says more than this he says
I love you in the
truth not just I love you in truth I
love you truly but I love you in the
truth now what's he meaning he's meaning
the truth of Christianity the truth of
Christ and to love someone in the truth
means to love them as they really are as
a Christian and you know what that means
it means you know the worst and the best
about them and you love them what is the
worst that you know the worst that you
know is that the person you love is a
sinner with a fallen nature like
yourself and capable of any sin in the
book therefore you are never
disillusioned or shattered or
disappointed you love them in the truth
and the first truth about your fellow
Christian is that they are a sinner and
capable of the worst and therefore
whatever they do you love them in the
truth it's tremendous when you can love
a person like that because the worst
that you discover doesn't destroy your
love God loves us in the truth he knows
the worst about me knows the worst about
you and he still loves he loves me in
the truth he's got no delusions about me
you may have but he hasn't and he loves
me and that's
wonderful but there's something more
about a Christian you can love an
unbeliever in the truth as far as the
worst goes but now let me tell you what
the best is about your fellow Christian
the best is that that person is going to
be perfect that person has Christ's
spirit in their heart and he's making
them a new person and they're going to
be glorified as well as Justified and
you can love them in the truth for what
they're going to
be now a love like that has no delusions
it believes the worst and the best it
believes the worst of what they are in
themselves and the best of what they are
in Christ and can look at a Christian
and say I love you in the truth I know
the worst and the best about you I know
the worst of which you're capable and I
know the best of which you're going to
be and I love you in the truth you can't
love anybody like that outside the truth
it's the truth of Christ about a man or
a woman every one of us is capable of
the most dark and terrible
deeds and every one of us Believers is
going to be like Christ and you can love
someone in the truth apart from anything
else you know that you're not going to
have to put up with their faults forever
you can look forward to the day when
they're perfect in character they can
look forward to the day when you are I
love you in the truth I'm spending too
much time on that but it's lovely isn't
it and when you do that John then says
grace mercy and peace will be with
us how do you get grace mercy and peace
in a Fellowship of Christians when you
love each other in the
truth when you know the worst and you
still love each other and when you look
to the best and love each other for it
and then grace mercy and peace will be
with you well now that's Love In Truth
John now says in the Greek language
Eureka it's translated find in verse
four but the literal word is Eureka I
can never read that without thinking of
dear old Archimedes in his Beth and
jumping out with great joy and running
down the street with a bath to towel or
without I don't know and shouting I
found it I've discovered it the
displacement of a body in water equals
or whatever it was he did discover now
John says I have the same feeling as
that no he wouldn't know about
Archimedes or would he might have done
somebody tell me afterwards whether
Archimedes was born in time but John says
says
Eureka I rejoiced greatly to discover
what that some of your children are
following the
truth it's great when people follow the
truth when they live by reality the
truth as it is in Christ he said I am
the truth and to follow the truth is to
follow Christ and to follow Christ is to
follow the truth and the nearer you get
to him the more truth you'll know about
yourself as you are and the more truth
you'll know about him as he is and
therefore the more truth you know about
what you're going to be they're
following the truth you notice that
follow means behave as well as believe
some people follow the truth up here but
nowhere else that's not what John means
to follow the truth is to live it
out to keep the balance John now says
and I beg you dear lady follow love keep
these two things in perfect balance the
longer I live the more I come to the
conclusion that the secret of real
maturity is balance and that when we're
young we like to go to
extremes we like to go after one thing
or another but mature people keep things
in balance and these two things Love and
Truth a mature Christian keeps them in
that delicate and Perfect Balance I'm
thrilled to discover that you follow the
truth I beg you to follow love keep them
both and you know what love is and here
he reminds this woman and you need to
remind ladies that love is not how you
feel but how you
act it's not a matter of having great
feelings of liking towards someone it's
a matter of doing your duty of keeping
his Commandments that's love and we must
rescue the word love from the
sentimental emotions which have now
become so attached to it that it's
almost excluded anything else and bring
love back to the simple matter of
loyalty the kind of loyalty that sticks
to a person for better for worse for
richer for poorer in sickness and in
health and does not let go and loves and
cherishes to the end that's love in fact
it would almost be a good thing if
wherever the Bible says love we said
loyalty because that's what what love
really is loyalty to a person it's not
just having your heart go twice as fast
as usual at the sight of someone it's
being loyal to them loyal to them and
sticking by them through thick and
thin love divorced from Duty will run
Riot and Duty divorced from love will
starve that's not mine that's a gem of a
man called plumber do you like it love
divorced from Duty will run riot and
Duty divorced from love will
starve now he comes to the real business
of the letter the sad fact is that not
everybody in the world in which we live
follows the
truth I find it saddening with my own
children to find out how easily in their
earliest years they discovered that
telling lies could protect them orus
came naturally nobody I know ever taught
them to tell
lies but we like every parent had to
correct them when we knew they did and
say now that's not true is
it unless the sad situation is that many
deceivers have gone out into the world
many people are saying things that are
not true they don't want to know the
truth either about God or about
themselves they are in a state of rebell
I to the truth and they don't want it
and therefore they devise cunningly devised
devised
fables which are just not
true and John knows that they will come
to this lady and her children and above
all he says they will not tell you the
truth about Christ what is the truth
well I've given it to you in 1 John
Jesus is divine and human he's God and
man perfectly one both together fully
God fully men and those who are against
the truth will either deny his Humanity
or his
divinity in John's day they denied his
humanity and said he didn't really come
in the flesh he was just a
ghost but in our day they they deny his
divinity and in our day they say he was
a great man but he wasn't God he may
have been a great teacher doing his own
thing and leading people and setting
them free
but he wasn't God now there are a lot of
people in the world who are telling us
that Jesus is not fully God or not fully
men and they will not acknowledge this
truth it isn't that they deny it they
won't acknowledge it may I say something
very strongly and
firmly you must not only listen to what
a preacher says You must listen what is
the truth
well I've given it to you in 1 John
Jesus is divine and human he's God and
Men perfectly one both together fully
God fully men and those who are against
the truth will either deny his Humanity
or his
divinity in John's day they denied his
humanity and said he didn't really come
in the flesh he was just a
ghost but in our day they div they deny
his divinity
and in our day they say he was a great
man but he wasn't God he may have been a
great teacher doing his own thing and
leading people and setting them free but
he wasn't
God now there are a lot of people in the
world who are telling us that Jesus is
not fully God or not fully
men and they will not acknowledge this
truth it isn't that they deny it they
won't acknowledge it
may I say something very strongly and
firmly you must not only listen to what
a preacher says You must listen to what
he does not
say because it is often in what he does
not say that he goes astray from the
truth it is what he does not
acknowledge that is important look for
the gaps in what a man says not just
what he says but what he carefully leaves
leaves
out and now now says John to this lady
your door must be shut absolutely
tight against someone who is not there
to preach the
truth that is the limit of Christian
Hospitality they may be without food
they may be without a bed you must not
take pity close the door now that's a
hard thing to say and it would take
Grace in a woman to close the door at
that point but why should one do that
it's seems such an unchristian act the
answer is
twofold a man who's not preaching the
truth is doing a wicked
work John Wesley came across such a man
and he said I have met murderers of the
body and I have preached to them and
they have responded to Grace but these
are murderers of men's
Souls it's far worse to kill a man's
Soul than his body you kill his body
you're doing something that affects him only
only
temporarily only in this world but to
kill his soul you've done something that
destroys him
forever and therefore there are people
who preach false views about Christ whom
you must never have in for a meal you
must not say come in you must close the
door you know who I mean don't you you
must say there is not a welcome here my
dear lady don't even welome welcome him
don't even greet him for to say goodbye
to him is to say God be with you and to
say good morning is to say I hope you
have a good morning don't even greet
him and then John has run out of paper
he's reached the end of a small sheet of
parchment which held about 300 words and
he says I have so much I want to say but
I'm not going to put it on on paper and
write it in ink I want to come and talk
this out with you and then he says I
want to come and see you so that my Joy
may be complete why is his Joy not
complete the answer is this dear lady
some of your children are following the
truth I Rejoice to find some of them
like this but I want to come to help all
of you to follow the truth and then my
joy is complete well that's the first
letter or the second rather now let's go
to the
third John has the same love for men and
women like Christ in Christ there is is
no male or female and so he says to gas
I love you in the
truth now gas was a lovely man a lovely
man every Church of which I've been
Minister and this is now the 28th of
which I've been Pastor it's all right
they didn't kick me out after a few
weeks but um in the Methodist Ministry
you have a number at a time as you know
and in every church every one of those 28
28
churches I can think of a
guas I can think of a man who fits this
description and I thank God for such men
his character shines out as a lovely man
and yet John doesn't say I love you
because you are
lovely he says the same here I love you
in the
truth now this is the answer within any
church and any group and any Fellowship
there are some people you will like more
than others at the human level you're
bound to we're different in temperament
and Outlook and background there are
some people you take to you
like and if there is only liking in a
church then it is not a church it's a
club and it will be a club with cliches
in it and Hospitality will be too
limited and homes will only be open to
people of the same type and that's not a
fellowship but when you love people in
the truth you don't love them because
you like them you don't love them
because they're lovely you love them in
the truth and the truth is in every
Christian the truth abides in US says
John so you love everyone and John loves
gas in the truth the same as he loved
everybody else in the
truth now he says I pray that all may go
well sometimes I've said to a person are
you well and they said oh yes I'm much
better now thank you and I've added well
I meant more than that
to the unbeliever the phrase are you
well means simply his
body and if his body is well he says yes
I'm fine but the Christian knows that a
man is more than a body he's a
soul body and soul together and to be
really well both need to be fit and
healthy and
strong the world is full of people who
are well in body but sick in Soul
desperately sick they need a surgeon
they need a drastic operation and a
black heart removed and a white one put
in transplant but a new heart not a
secondhand one and there they are
they're walking about the streets you'll
see them they're sick in Soul study the
faces in a London tube train next time
you're taking a journey they're well in
body but you'll see sickness in Soul
fear boredom disillusionment
disillusionment
merice and so John says to GS I I want
all to be well with
you I know it is well with your soul
isn't that terrific you know the song
Don't You It is Well it Is Well with My
Soul there's nothing like feeling
spiritually fit and healthy it's great
to feel physically fit and to be
refreshed and renewed in body but to be
well with the soul when peace like a
river it is well it is well next time a
Christian says are you well say very
well thank you but say it about your
soul first and so John says now I know
you're well in Soul I want you to be
well in body
too may I underline that a Christian can
be spiritually healthy but not
physically healthy do you notice that it
doesn't follow
automatically there are those who
believe that if everything's right
spiritually everything will be right
physically it doesn't
follow it is well with your soul G is
I'm going to pray that you may have
health too do you notice he says I pray
about it health is physical but it's a
thing to pray about as well we should
pray about everything God made our
bodies as well as our souls so we pray
for the whole lot we have a concern for
the whole men because we believe in
Souls we don't neglect people's bodies
and because we believe they have bodies
we don't neglect their souls do you
remember Paul writing to Timothy
he says Timothy I'm a bit concerned
about your tummy trouble I advise you to
take a little wine for your stomach sake
hasten to add that he meant him to rub
it in but um no he didn't actually
that's just for for those who are a bit
worried about the text but Paul said
look I'm concerned about you
Timothy I'm concerned about your
body this was our Lord's own way Jesus
preached to a great crowd of people for
three days and then he didn't make an
appeal do you know what he said he
didn't say now let's have an act of
dedication he said you know these people
are hungry they haven't had anything to
eat we better find them some food isn't
that lovely concern for souls and bodies
This is Love guas you're well in your
soul I hope and pray that your body will
get bit better had he been overdoing it
was he tired in the Lord's service what
would gone wrong it is well with your
soul now he says I know that you're a
man who follows the truth and everybody
else knows it the Brethren tell me
everybody tells me there could be few
greater tributes to a man than that he
follows the
truth we might say he's a true man he's
a true friend he's a true Christian same
thing true ringing true that's
guys now he says not only do you follow
truth but you follow love you welcome
preachers you welcome these Christians
who go around they've left home and
family for the Lord's sake not for their
own ambition or gain but for his sake
and they refuse to take anything from
the heathens so they are dependent on Christian
charity I believe that this is a
fundamental principle of the Lord's work
that the Lord's work should be
financially supported by the Lord's
people otherwise it looks like
commercialism I remember when Billy Rah
came here the number of people I met who
said how much is he going to get out of
it well of course he didn't take a
hapney for his trips to Britain that
there might be no ground for anyone
thinking it's commercialism but these
traveling preachers they refused to take
any money even if it was offered from
unbelievers they said no we want you to
have the gospel free Paul did the same
and I believe a Church's Finance should
be run the same way
I have reservations therefore about
official Chaplan and other
things I even wonder whether we should
expect the state to pay for teaching
Christianity in
schools these men took nothing from the
Heathen they said we will go out for the
Lord's sake we'll rely on him to provide
for our needs through his people and gas
was one of those who was in a position
to provide for their needs
let's make it quite certain that if this
Christian lives by faith it's because
that one lives by works do you see what
I mean if this Christian is living
believing that God will provide it is
because this Christian is living as a
provider for God and this is the pattern
and both are living by faith one because
God told them to live on gifts and the
other because God Cho told them to give
and the two become part partners and
sharers in the work and guas was a
sharer in the task he never left his
place but he shared in the missionary
work and every penny you give here to
keep a missionary somewhere else makes
you a partner in Mission now here we
come to a rather nasty person isn't it
happy that the clock has gone round I
don't need to spend long time on him
diot trophies he's as nasty a character
as guas was nice he couldn't be Ed on
his teaching his truth was all right but
his love just wasn't there he was a man
who wanted to be boss of that little
church he liked to have the first place
he didn't want any Rivals he didn't want
anybody else he didn't want any other
preachers he didn't want anybody but
himself and so he wouldn't acknowledge
even the Apostle John talked a lot of
nonsense about him it says he wouldn't
welcome any other preacher and if his
church members gave Hospitality to a
visiting preacher preacher he turned
them off the membership role incredible
men and he was the preacher here and
diates is a nasty character and John
says he's overemphasizing Truth at the
expense of
love the women are opening their doors
too wide and he's shutting it too tight
he lacks love they lack
truth you see the balance again and so
he says don't imitate people like that
I'll tell you who to imitate Demetrius
he's a man is true if you want someone
to follow follow him I've come to the
conclusion that people learn more by
imitation than
instruction don't know if that strikes
you but I look at my children you know
they pick up far more from me
unfortunately from imitation than
instruction I tell them to do things but
they do what I do instead and they
imitate we mimic the literal word here
is mimic most of the things you do you
mimic that's how you learn that's
perfectly good it's a good way of
learning and in the New Testament Paul
dares to say imitate me as I imitate
Christ it's how you learn copy me now
copy those who do good not those who do
evil copy Demetrius not
diates I haven't had a diophy in every
church I've been in thank God I haven't
occasionally such thorns in the flesh come
come
along but John says imitate this man not
that man learn to walk the Christian
Life by watching a good Christian doing
the same thing so he finishes the letter
your peace you notice that joy in the
previous letter is related to having
truth peace is related to having love
can you imagine that church where diophy
was can you imagine that church meetings
can you imagine the divisions I can see
them saying I like cifas I like Apollos
I like Paul and comparing ministers you
can see all that coming and so he says
peace be to
you if you get love and truth in Balance
you'll get joy and peace in the
church if your truth is right you'll
have joy if your love is right you have
peace isn't this
lovely let me close by making a
statement publicly definitely of this
church Let It Be widely known that our
homes our church and our Pulpit are wide
open to any servant of the gospel of
Christ let it also be known that our
homes and our church are tight
shut against those who pervert the
teaching of
Jesus that's our Hospitality our
Christian Duty
it is a knife edge to walk may God give
us wisdom to know where the line is and
pray oh God our Father your hus your
word always lays Upon Us duties that are
too great for us burdens and
responsibilities that are too heavy and
our poor feeble Minds hesitate to draw
this line that must be drawn and the
limit to our
Hospitality oh God our heavenly father
we come to you now because you never
command anything without giving the
grace and the strength to do it and we
ask now that you will help us as we
welcome your
servants from time to time from all over
the world help us to balance Truth and
Love and above all we pray that in our
attitude and relationships to each other
we may love one another in the truth for
amen from time to time parents bring
babies to
church and they do so not as a kind of
coming out ceremony or a naming ceremony
and this has nothing to do with
christening it's not a kind of dry
cleaning as somebody put it
this is bringing a baby that God has first
first
given and giving the baby back to God
it's the most solemn and serious thing
to do really because there's nothing
more precious to parents than their baby
and to give away the thing that is most
precious to you as a very big gift when
you do it you say God this baby is not
ours from now on it's
yours he's yours to do whatever you wish
with him and whatever you do we shall
never never say anything we shall not
want him for
ourselves if in our old age you want him
the other side of the world preaching
the gospel We shalln't complain he's
yours and we are going to be foster
parents bringing up this baby for you as
moses' mother brought up Moses for
Pharaoh's daughter that's the big thing
that Barry and darene have come to do
this morning and bringing little Andrew
Robert back to God God gave him and now
God is getting him back again will you
turn to the end of your hym
book number
878 where we're going to read just a few
scriptures about a Christian Home 878
responsively here o Israel the Lord our
God is one Lord and thou shal love the
Lord thy God with all thine heart and
with all thy soul and with all thy might
and these words which I commend theee
this day shall be in thine
heart and thou sh teach them
dently children and shall talk of them
th in House Husbands Let each of you
love his wife as himself and let the
wife see that she respects her
husband children your parents in the
Lord for this is right hon your father
and mother
fathers do not provoke your children to
anger but bring them up in the
discipline and destruction of the put on
then as God's chosen ones holy and
beloved compassion kindness loneliness
meekness and
patience for one another and one compl
another forging each other as the Lord
has forgiven you so you also
and above all these things put on love
which binds everything together in
Perfect Harmony and whatever you do in
word ored do everything in the name of
the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God
father through
stand going to ask you bar and I'll in
you promise to do all within your power
to bring this child up in the knowledge
and fear of the Lord and to put no
stumbling block in the way of his future
faith we do going to ask the members of
the congregation here do you promise to
pray for this family and do what is
within your power to help them to keep this
promise Andrew Robert God gave you to us
and we give you back to him and pray
that you may grow up to be one of of his
servants the Lord bless you and keep you
and your family
amen take this child and bring him up
Lord let us bow our heads in
prayer father we pray that by your mercy
this boy May one day through his own
decision and Faith come to know those
things which we most desire for him at
this moment we ask that to this end the
dedication of these parents to the awesome
awesome
responsibility of bringing up this
child we pray that they may be given
your grace your strength your love that
they may their home may have the joy and
the peace that is not to be found in
other homes only those places where
Jesus Christ is the head of the house
and where father and mother are one in
Amen Let us sing together hymn number
kneeling in my presence
presence [Music]
[Music] all
all [Music]
[Music] press
press Christ
Christ [Music]
[Music]
[Music] children
children
for our
children we [Music]
[Music] PR
sec in
in Jus
[Music]
name grace mercy and peace will be with
you from God the father and his son our
Lord Jesus
Christ as we love one another in truth
truth amen
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