Well, school reports are not what they used to be. In the old days, you used to get a little paragraph of text from each teacher, describing personalised words as to how each child is doing. In the modern day and age, you just get categories: you're either doing better, worse, or as expected — and not a lot more feedback than that.
Well, I'd like to introduce you to myself, aged 10 years and 2 months, and I've just completed the Easter term at school. I was in class 4G. Okay, here is French:
James has the right approach to language learning and has the ability to do well in French. He makes intelligent oral contributions in class and produces good written work. Congratulations on a splendid examination result.
We had exams every term — wouldn't you want that, for those of you who are at school? Anyway, that's all right — well done me!
Now, my strongest subject at school was Maths:
So, although we have tackled a totally new set of topics, James has been able to apply his primary knowledge — I have no idea what that means — he completed an excellent test paper. Well done, very good.
You can give me an applause later. I'm happy with that.
Not so good at Art:
James continues to be full of ideas and always has plenty to say about them, but few ever really go into his work.
And we will not talk about PE:
James would be the first one to agree that his physical ability is limited. However, his efforts to succeed are a major credit to him, and make him a pleasure to teach.
If you go home from school at the end of term and you have a good report, it's lovely. Your parents will be pleased with your progress, but also it's a sign that your teachers have assessed your work and think that you're doing okay.
But now imagine for a moment that our church had an assessment. Would they say that we are doing well? Would an “Ofsted” assessment of our church say that we are doing well?
Well, we are looking together at the little letter of 2 John. It comes after 1 John — we looked at 1 John through the spring and the early summer — and then John wrote two more little letters, each exactly the size of the ancient equivalent of one piece of paper. But this letter is really the ancient equivalent of an Ofsted report. It's written by John to a specific church — we don't know which church; he doesn't say — but here is verse four:
"It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us."
John gives this church an outstanding rating. So this morning we're going to see how this church is described, and then we're going to see why John is so pleased.
How the church is described
So firstly, the way the church is described — verse 1:
He writes as “the Elder, to the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth — and not I only, but also all who know the truth — because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever.”
Now, we often talk of the church as a family — and so it is. We speak about God the Father, about Jesus his Son — and Jesus the Son is therefore our elder brother. And that makes us brothers and sisters of each other.
Now, all of that is here. Look at verse three:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son.
So all that we're used to about the church as family — it's all here. But the language here is slightly different: to the lady chosen by God and her children. This is the language of the church as the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. This may be something you've met before, it may not be. It's language we get several times in the New Testament, which depicts Jesus Christ as the bridegroom and the church as his bride.
Jesus himself is the one who introduced this piece of language — in fact, it goes back even further to John the Baptist.
Now, when we hear that language, we often hear it and think of it individually — that is to say, we think: you Christian, you Christian, me Christian — each of us is the bride of Christ. Well, that would give problems with polygamy! But actually, the language in the New Testament is that the church is the bride, not individual Christians. It's collective. We, as the church, are the bride of the Lord Jesus.
And if you want to know what individual Christians are, well, that makes us the children of the marriage. So that God is our Father — but then the church is our mother. Maybe that's a strange thought to you. Maybe you've not thought of that before. You do meet it, by the way, in Galatians 4:21–31 — have a look at that later if you want to follow up a cross-reference.
But if you think it's a slightly new idea, it's quite simple really: we are the children of God. But the point is that God does not have his children in a vacuum. The church gives birth to new Christians — how? By the word of truth.
So as we read through the letter of 2 John, we discover that the truth is the foundation of who we are as God's children. So God uses the church — speaking the truths of the Gospel — to bring about new birth, to bring new Christians into the world, to bring about conversion.
Which means that the category of truth is really important in 2 John. So look at verse 1 — we see that the truth is the bond of love between different Christians. Verse 2 — he loves them because of the truth, and the truth will be with us forever.
Verse 3 contains a greeting, like in most New Testament letters — but here it's a little bit different. It's a promise rather than a prayer. Do you see that?
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us.
It's a promise. But they come in truth and love.
So this whole category of “the truth” is really foundational to who we are in this letter of 2 John. And that means that a healthy church is one that lives in the light of the truth — the truth that creates us, the truth that binds us, the truth through which God's blessings come to us.
As John puts it, we need to be those who walk in the truth.
So, you see, it's like my school art report. It's all very well to believe lots of good truths. It's all very well to say lots of good things. But that is not the question. The question is: does it make it into our work?
And if you're involved in art in any way, that includes your artwork — but not just art. Whatever your work — your Mondays, as we were thinking about in the All Age teaching slot — does the truth permeate through to the way you walk and work and live? Or do you just say lots of good things, have lots of good ideas — but those ideas never make it into our lives?
Well, John is delighted:
Why John is so pleased
"It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us."
So what does it mean to walk in the truth? What does it mean to get an outstanding if John was to inspect us?
Live out the truth
Well, it means two things. First of all, we need to live out the truth — verse 5:
"And now, dear lady, I am not writing to you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another."
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.
"As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."
So if you want to walk in the truth, you live out the truth. If you want to live out the truth, John says — verse 5 — love one another. Verse six — walk in love.
Verse 5 says that it's not rocket science — there's nothing new about this. We've had this command to love each other right from the beginning. From the beginning of what, maybe you ask?
Well, certainly from the beginning of life as a Christian. Jesus taught his disciples what he wants from them in the way that they live — including John 13:34–35:
"A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
For as long as you've known about Jesus, for as long as you've been his follower, living for him involves loving his people. But actually, you've had this command from the beginning — that goes back further than that. It goes back to Leviticus 19:
"Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbour frankly so that you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord."
For as long as God has had a people, living for him involves loving his people. Now, I'm going to give you two lists of Olympic sports. Now, this is not an all-age talk, so this is now rhetorical—I don't expect an answer—but see if you can work out how I've categorised these sports into two lists.
List number 1: roller speed skating, fencing, and javelin.
List number 2: basketball, artistic swimming (which is what they used to call synchronised swimming), and ice hockey.
All the ones in the first list are solo sports. It is you against another or several other competitors: the 100 metres sprint, the high jump. All the ones in the second list are team sports. It is your team against another team: the 400 metres relay, the cycling of the Tour de France —these are team sports—rowing in a crew of eight.
John's point is that there is no such thing as solo Christianity. Being a Christian is inherently a team sport. You cannot be a Christian on your own. You can't love the Christians in this church or in a church without belonging to one, going regularly, and building relationships. Following Jesus is a team sport, and there is no solo Christianity.
Now, remember the picture of the church here: the lady and her children. So it is normal for Christians to have two parents—God the Father, the church as mother—and we need both. Now, there are a few people who become Christians without the intervention of a local church or of other Christians. It does happen. People pick up a tract or a book and read it and put their trust in the Lord Jesus. They watch some satellite TV in a country that is cut off from the gospel otherwise, or they watch something on YouTube and they turn and follow the Lord Jesus. That does happen. But if that happens to you, your first priority needs to be to find a church and attach yourself to it.
And we need to, at this point, realise as well that you can come to church for years, and yet everything can just remain very superficial. That's not joining the team. You will only be able to love other Christians as Jesus asked when we play an active part.
Now, there's one other thing we just need to notice before we move on from this, which is verse 6 This is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you've heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
What does it mean to walk in love? The answer is: walk in obedience to his commands. Some people like to play a little game where they set off against each other—loving other people and obeying the commands of the Lord Jesus. They paint one as good: it's good to be focused on loving others, whereas Jesus’ commands are stifling and restrict your freedom.
This passage tells us that's a false choice to be asked to make. Loving other Christians looks a lot like obeying his commands. That's how you do it. And as you obey his commands in the way you relate to others, so you are showing your love for them.
So that's the first thing it means to walk in the truth: we live out the truth, and we do that by loving each other—by walking in love.
Stay with the truth
The second thing it means to walk in the truth is to stay with the truth. This is the second thing it means, and it's why all of this matters.
Verse 7: I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Now, if you've been with us through spring and summer, you'll be familiar from 1 John with the idea that there are people who are teaching wrong things about Jesus. And the summary of what's being taught by some people here is: they do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. That's shorthand for: they do not believe Jesus is the man and God who came to this world to pay for our sins.
Now, this may not be the exact species of wrong ideas about Jesus that you meet today. There were different wrong ideas circulating in different ages of the church. But these are central truths about Jesus that have gone wrong.
Now, this is really dangerous that this is happening because John says these people are deceivers. That's to say, they want to trick you. What does that mean? That means they want you to think they are teaching about the real Jesus. They do not walk around wearing a T-shirt that says, "Beware: the Jesus I'm teaching is false. Do not listen to me." They walk around looking like the genuine article—because they want to be believed.
Just picture for a moment that you're at an exhibition, walking past a whole load of stalls. Okay, this is the kind—university terms start in the next few weeks—and this is the kind of thing that you have for first years going to university, where you can wander around and see all the different clubs and societies that are on offer. You can go and join the chess, the boxing club, the debating club. Everyone has their stall.
And in there will be lots of religious stalls as well—different religious groups that you might want to join—and you're trying to work out, "Which ones am I interested in?"
So, you come up to one, and they say, "Who are you wanting me to worship?" And they say, "Well, we believe in a god called Allah." And you say, "Ah, I'm yet to find my tribe—I'm going to walk on. That is not the God I worship. Let's find another one."
You come to the next stall, and they worship a god called Vishnu. And you think, "No, still not there. I'm going to keep walking."
So then you walk on again, and you get to the next one. They say, "We worship a god called Jesus." And—at last—a sigh of relief. And you relax. Finally, I have found the people who worship the same God as me.
But do they? They worship a god called Jesus—and so do you—but that doesn't actually necessarily mean they are the same God. The question is: do they worship the real Jesus or a different one?
There's a danger of being tricked. And it gets worse, because we're told that there are many deceivers. So it's not that there are lots and lots of good teachers telling you about Jesus and one or two bad apples. No. May not be the majority—may not be as bad as that—but there are lots of fakes.
And it's the same today. Not every Christian church teaches you about the real Jesus. Not every Christian preacher teaches you about the real Jesus. Not every Christian YouTube channel teaches you about the real Jesus.
We have to be discerning.
Now, what does it mean in practice, then, to stay with the truth? And John's got three really practical instructions for us to live this out in practice.
1. Don't lose what we've worked for
Don't lose what we've worked for. This is verse 8: Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
Don't fall for the fake.
Now, being robbed is heartbreaking, and I'm sure there are people here who have had this horrendous experience. The invasion of your privacy. The sense that everything is unsettled and you can never quite relax. The sense of violation. It's a terrible, terrible thing.
But part of it as well is that there are things that are precious to you—that you have saved up for and worked towards and finally you possess dearly—but have been taken from you by somebody with no right to them.
If you turn and follow a fake Jesus, John says, you have been robbed.
You see, for a season, you followed the real Jesus. There were joys in that—deep joys. It's good to be a Christian. Some real sacrifices, actually, as well. And you're reaching the point where, on the horizon, is an eternity with Jesus in heaven—just bliss.
And then someone robs you of it all.
Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
There is an eternal reward. It's all of grace. It's a gift. It's not earned. But there is an eternal reward—and suddenly, it's gone.
But it's not just you who's been robbed. Watch how you do not lose what we have worked for. John and those who ministered with him had sacrificed. They had evangelised these people, they had taught them, they had trained them, they had equipped them. And if they fall for a fake, all of John's efforts have just been thrown away.
So think of all the Christians who had a hand in you reaching the point you have with Jesus. Maybe your parents, maybe school teachers, youth leaders, youth camp leaders, work colleagues, next-door neighbours—people who have invested in you to get you to the point where you are. They have worked to see you grow in Christ, and where you stand today with the Lord Jesus is one of the deep thrills to them. Don't lose what they have worked for.
2. Don’t run ahead
Second, don't run ahead. Verse 9: Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
Now, this is a strange way to put it—running ahead. If you lose your grip on true teaching about Jesus, he could say, "You fall behind. Don't fall behind. Don't stop believing the things that you're meant to." He could say, "Don't go off to the side, don't get distracted by something else." Well, don't do those things. But the danger here is the danger of running ahead, of not being content to stay with Jesus, to learn of God from Jesus, but to go on your own ahead.
You say, "Well, the Bible—well, that was all very good for people in the first century. But we've learned a lot since then, so we can go further than the Bible and learn some new things and move beyond what Jesus tells us about God."
Imagine you go on a group hike with some friends. To some of you, that would be a delightful thought. Others of you can think of nothing worse. But then there's one member of your group who is fitter and faster than the rest and does not want to walk with everybody else, but just steams on ahead at their own pace. And John is warning: resist the pressure to be clever, the pressure to be innovative, the pressure to make stuff up. Resist the pressure to stop walking with Jesus in the group, but to press on at your own pace. Resist the pressure to go beyond what's written in the Bible.
This means we need to be very careful what we read with books, and we need to be careful with YouTube as well. Christian publishing is saturated. There are not many Christian books that still need writing. But authors still want to write, publishers still want to publish and sell. That means there is a pressure to say something new—and not always, but new can be dangerous. And to get a following on YouTube, you need to say something that's not been said before. Again, the pressure to be novel. It's a pressure for preachers too, by the way.
Let me tell you, when you first become a church minister, the first Christmas is wonderful. You can tell everybody all about how God the Son became a human being in the person of Jesus. The second Christmas comes around, and you're very grateful that as well as Matthew's account, there is Luke's. The third Christmas comes around, and there's John chapter 1: The Word became flesh. The fourth Christmas comes around, and thankfully there are some prophecies in Isaiah and Micah. But you hit a point after a number of years where you go, "I have said everything I have to say about Christmas. What else is there that I can tell people?"
Well, our deep-down fear as preachers is that you're going to turn around to us over coffee after a sermon and say, "That was wonderful, but I knew it all already." Let me tell you, that would be a wonderful thing to hear, in a sense. If what we're saying is what you knew, that's a good thing. Just tell us the old, old story. Don't innovate. Don't run ahead.
3. Don’t give them a platform
And third, don't give them a platform.
Don't give them a platform. Verse 10: If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
The cultural background to this—in the ancient world, as an itinerant preacher, you had no right to speak in the communities of ancient Greece. If you know London, there's an area near Marble Arch in the West End called Hyde Park Corner, which is on the edge of Hyde Park, a big green public park in London, where basically anyone can just go and deliver a speech, and people may choose to come and listen, or they may not. But you kind of have the right to deliver your own speech in that space. It does still happen—people still gather there and give a speech on something, and people might gather around and listen.
In the ancient world, there was no Hyde Park Corner. You couldn't just turn up as a stranger and start talking. However, if you were a guest in the home of a citizen of the town, then that person gave you credibility. And because you were there on their ticket, then of course: you may come, and we will hear what you have to say.
So you see, it wasn't just the teachers of the fake Jesus who were responsible for the harm they were doing. Those who help them are involved as well. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
Now, how might we give someone a platform today? We don't have the same thing, do we, of needing to stay in your house before anyone will listen to you? Well, I can think of two ways that we need to be careful not to give people a platform today.
3(a) Funding
The first is: don't fund them. Now, this is part of why I left the denomination I formerly ministered in. It's very hard to be a minister of a denomination with a centralised funding model and avoid either your money or your church's money funding ministries that are undermining the gospel.
3(b) Charity
But it impacts charity too. So just imagine some awful disaster strikes—you want to give to some disaster relief cause. Good. I'm really glad you'd want to do that. It's really, really important we do that. This is okay. But multiple charities will be involved in the same disaster zone. Choose carefully which one you give to. And not just, "Are they a Christian charity?" We know enough by now to know that's not the distinction. What other ministries are they involved in? What are the people on the ground teaching? Is this actually a ministry you want to be funding or not? Be discerning.
3(c) Social media
But the other way we might give people a platform today is that we need to not give them a platform on social media. See, speakers today don't need a guest room, but their teaching will spread much faster with an online platform, with lots of likes, retweets, and shares. So just think—just slow down a little on the buttons on your Facebook or your Instagram, or whatever is your poison. Who wrote the article you're thinking of sharing? What else have they written? What page is that meme from?
Maybe it would be an idea sometimes to save the picture to your computer and post it as a picture, rather than boosting the popularity of the page it came from in the first place. Don't think that's ethical? Just don't share it, then. I see some very strange stuff that some Christians share—you know, beautiful Bible verse with a lovely sunset behind it. But then you click on the page it comes from and you think, "My goodness—don't want that." Some of us just need to be a lot more discerning in what we share and endorse online.
Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
Conclusion
Well, brothers and sisters, what a wonderful thing it is to be a child of God and a child of his church—the precious bride of the Lord Jesus. Wouldn't it be wonderful for someone to write that we are walking in the truth? Not just talking lots, but it makes it into our walk through life.
Don't be a lone ranger. Love the people of the Lord Jesus. And don't run on ahead—stick with the real Jesus, and you'll possess both the Father and the Son. You'll be rewarded fully by the grace of God, and your joy will be complete.