“Walking in the Truth” 2 John 1-4

Well, turn with me in your Bibles to the letter of 2 John. We are in 2 John this evening. A few months ago, before I left for a few weeks, we finished our study in 1 John, and we were in 1 John for several months. And so I want to continue in our study of these letters, and we’re going to cover the letters of 2nd and 3rd John over the next several months as well. It really won’t take long to cover these letters because they’re very, very short. They are the shortest books in the New Testament. Both of them combined even are shorter than some chapters of other books of the New Testament. And they’re very similar in nature in their direct address and the way that they cover different areas of doctrine. And many people believe that they were written at the same time even, because they are addressed to different people.

Again, they are short letters, they’re almost more like postcards than even a letter, because they are so short. And they’re much shorter than even a typical letter of that day. Typical Greek letters, they were usually much, much longer, as we see in some of the other letters in the New Testament. And before we really look at these letters, we do need to really speak about their context and their background a little bit, because they are different than 1 John. They’re different than 1 John in the people they’re addressed to and even what John addresses within the letter. Both letters are addressed from the elder. Now that’s different from 1 John because he didn’t say that, but here in these two letters, he calls himself the elder. And now this is really characteristic of John.

He doesn’t name himself in the letter and he doesn’t do that in any of his writings, even in the gospel of John. If you know that gospel well, he calls himself the beloved disciple. He doesn’t say this is John writing or he doesn’t even speak of himself as John. He speaks of himself as the beloved disciple. And so we know that it’s from this one who is called the elder, this letter 2 John and 3 John. So who is the elder? That’s a question that many people, as they study these letters, they kind of toss around ideas. all of John’s writing, both his gospel and the letter of 1 John, and then you read 2 John, it’s very clear to see that this is the apostle John writing. I mean, he doesn’t sign his name to it, but basically in his theology and in the way he says things, this is clearly a letter of John.

So we know that it’s from John, but another more curious part of this letter is who it’s addressed to. This letter says it’s addressed to the elect lady and her children. So, who is that talking about? And there’s really, commenters are all over the map on this question, and really it’s one of the questions you get when you’re in seminary. Who’s the elect lady in 2 John? And there’s some that think it is a lady, a specific woman that he’s writing to, and it says the elect lady and her children, so it’s possibly a family. that he’s writing to. Interestingly, John MacArthur sees it that way. He sees it that it’s a lady that he’s writing to. And there’s others that see it that way. Really, in the early church, a lot of the early church fathers saw it as a individual that it was being written to, mainly because the letter of 3 John is written to a specific individual. So there’s kind of similarities in that way.

However, others think lady is a metaphor for the church, the lady and her children, the elect lady. And it’s really hard to say for certain one way or the other, because there’s good arguments both ways, but the reality of the matter is it doesn’t change the meaning of the letter. It doesn’t change what John is saying. Really, this is a specific issue he’s writing to, and it can be addressed to really any Christian. It’s writing to the issue of showing hospitality to the false teachers. So whether or not it’s a individual lady or whether it’s a metaphor for the church, either way, the message is the same. So we’ll consider that as we look into this letter tonight. But some evidence for it being the church is that in verses 8, 10, and 12, the word used for you there is a plural. It’s talking to you all, so that’s not necessarily rock-solid evidence because it could mean you and your children.

So either way, the way you take this, it doesn’t change the big picture, the meaning of the letter much at all. One of the big focal points in this letter is the truth, and we’ll see that even tonight. He is writing for the sake of the truth. John is writing so that they will hold on to the truth. They will stand for the truth. And living in the truth is really a common theme we saw in 1 John, and here in 2 John as well, and then even in the letter of 3 John. It really comes to its clearest expression probably here in 2 John, as this elder, John, is concerned for the health of this group of believers, whether it’s a church or just a single family. especially when believers are not living in the truth, when they are doing things that compromise the truth. And just like in 1 John, there’s a warning against false teachers and deceivers who have gone out. And we’ll see that when we get to verse 7. And John spoke of those who went out in 1 John. He said, they went out from us because they were not of us. These were these false teachers teaching a different gospel. Now, John seems to have the same group in mind as he speaks of these deceivers here in 2 John.

Apparently, what had been happening is even though these had gone out from the church, they were now traveling around and spreading their false gospel. Apparently, there were those who were in the church welcoming them in, welcoming them into their homes and showing these false teachers hospitality. And John is writing to them to warn them against doing that, whether they were doing this unintentionally or they were just being unwise in what they were doing. John is writing to warn them, to warn them against showing hospitality to these ones who are teaching doctrines and a gospel that is not the gospel of Christ, that is not the doctrine that he taught them.

So again, he’s warning them against participating in false teachers’ evil deeds by showing them hospitality. So for this evening, I’d like to focus on the first four verses, really the introduction to this letter. And as is common in all of John’s writings, he begins his letter packed full of theology. He really lays out what he’s going to be talking about right in the first introduction, the first few verses. He does this in his gospel. He did that in 1 John, as we saw. And he’ll do that here in 2 John, in this letter. And again, this introduction really summarizes all that he’s going to be saying, and he packs a lot in here. And so I’m going to read our first four verses of 2 John this evening, as that will be our focus.

So this is 2 John. Again, there’s only one chapter, and it’s going to be verses one through four. And this is the word of the Lord. It says, the elder, to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, for the sake 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 Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we received commandment from the Father.”

So again, this is just the introduction, but you can see John’s focus here is on the truth. He repeats the truth over and over again in these first four verses. Really, it’s the central message of this letter, to walk in the truth. The truth is a central part of John’s theology. John focuses on the truth seemingly more than a lot of other writers do. The importance of us holding to the truth, the importance of Christians knowing the truth and defending the truth. You remember In John’s gospel, as he tells the account of Jesus and his trial, and as Jesus is before Pilate, the infamous statement that Pilate makes, really the question that he asks.

In John 18, verses 37 and 38, it says this, therefore Pilate said to him, to Jesus, so you are a king. And Jesus answered, you yourself said I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And Pilate said to him, what is truth? What is truth? This is the same question that our world faces today. Our world is a world steeped in the worldview of post-modernism. Really, we’re even post-post-modernism. And postmodernism is an idea that views the truth with skepticism. You really can’t know the truth. Many people believe there is no such thing as truth. S

o not only can you not know it, it doesn’t even exist. Most argue, especially when it comes to religion, that there is no religious truth. There is no absolute truth. that your religion can be based on. They treat religion as a personal preference, almost like your taste in music, or your taste in literature, or your taste in food. Whatever you like is good for you. This summer, with the teens, we’ve been going through a video series called The Road Trip to Truth. And in this series, there’s a man that goes around to different college campuses and interviews students, asking them questions about truth. And it’s really shocking to see the reactions and answers that he gets to questions. He asks questions like, basic questions like, what is truth? Is there such thing as absolute truth? And then he pushes these students on their answers. And to the point like, is murder wrong? And their answers are, well, it depends on what culture you’re in. It depends on what society you’re in. And they keep dancing around the idea that there’s absolute truth. that truth is dependent upon your worldview or your own preferences or your own ideas.

It’s really shocking to see them deny the truth and really just be ignorant that there is truth. They just don’t know. Even today, we see it all around us. All you have to do is turn on any news channel. Journalism used to be the practice of reporting on something that happened so that you could make up your mind about things. That doesn’t even exist anymore. Any news channel you turn on is trying to get you to believe something, trying to get you to believe their point of view of a situation. They don’t just tell you the facts and let you decide. They tell you their idea of what happened. This happens on every news station. Yes, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, all the, even Fox News does this. Any news station you watch, you’re getting their slant on what happened. If you get any story on what happened at all. Even the news stories they tell you about are to get you to react or believe a certain way. And therefore, they’ll ignore certain stories. And you won’t hear anything about them. This is all because of this world’s idea of truth. Truth is whatever you want it to be. These people that are trying to tell us they’re reporting the news, they’re not journalists, they’re not reporting anything. They’re paid actors trying to get you to believe something. Because our world has absolutely no concept of what truth is.

Lying is acceptable when truth is unfathomable. If truth is just a concept that there is no concrete truth, then what difference does lying make? Is lying even wrong when there’s no concept of truth? Lying’s just what everyone does. Lying is trying to get you to see my truth. Whatever lie you choose to believe is what becomes your truth. So the same question Pilate asked 2,000 years ago, is unanswered today in the world. What is truth?

Well, God does not leave us without answers to that question. Although Pilate didn’t know the answer, we can know the answer. Because God says a lot about what truth is. For example, we know that God himself is a God of truth. Psalm 31:5. It says, into your hand I commit my spirit. This is the Psalm Jesus quotes on the cross. It says, into your hand I commit my spirit. You have ransomed me, O Yahweh, God of truth. He is the God of truth. Isaiah 65:16 is a great passage. It says, because he who is blessed in the earth will be blessed by the God of truth, and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth. God himself is the standard. It’s by him that we know anything that’s true. It’s by him that we judge whether or not anything is true.

God tells us that his word is truth, and that must be the case if God is a God of truth. Psalm 119, 160, the sum of your word is truth. John 17, 17, Jesus praying says, sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth. Second Timothy, be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. That’s Second Timothy 2.15. And so on and so forth. I could show you many passages that tell us that God’s word is the word of truth.

And if the word of God is the word of truth, then the incarnate word, Jesus Christ himself, is the truth itself. And he says this, John 14.6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And then Paul says in Ephesians 4.21, if indeed you have heard of him and were taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus. Jesus is the truth. John tells us that Jesus is full of truth. In John 1.14, the word became flesh, dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. Glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus revealed the truth. In John 1.17, the law came through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. and we already saw that he speaks the truth. As he said to Pilate, he came to bear witness to the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 tells us, we come to faith by the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 says, but we should always give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and Faith in the truth. Having faith in Christ is having faith in the truth. Having faith that He is the truth. Having faith that the fact that He came and lived and died and rose again, that that’s true. Faith in the truth is how God has chosen us. How we reveal that God has chosen us as first fruits for salvation.

In a couple of verses earlier in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 10, it says that believers love the truth. We’re set free by the truth, John 8, 32. We worship in spirit and truth in John 4. We rejoice in the truth in 1 Corinthians 13. We speak the truth in love in Ephesians 4, 15, and on and on and on. Our whole existence as God’s children is all about the truth. So what difference does it make whether or not there’s truth? It makes all the difference.

The truth is how we have come to be who we are, the children of God. If we are to know and follow Christ, we must know the truth, and we must walk in the truth. And that is the central point of the whole letter of 2 John, but especially of this introduction that John gives us. And what we’ll focus on tonight is really four features of the truth, really four results of walking in the truth. What happens when believers walk in the truth?

Well, that’s what we’ll see this evening. The four results of walking in the truth are, number one, that truth unites us. We are united because of the truth. The fact that we have fellowship together, that we are a church that can come together and be united is because of the truth. Secondly, truth indwells us. Thirdly, truth blesses us, and fourth, truth controls us. Those are all results of the truth in the life of a Christian. John speaks just in the introduction to this letter. These four realities are what it means to be a Christian. The fruit of living as a Christian.

So let’s dive into this letter, this second letter of John. Again, he begins, the elder, the elder to the elect lady and her children. whom I love in the truth, and not only I, but all who know the truth.” We talked about that this is the apostle John identifying himself as the elder. This is that word presbyteros. Speaking of a leader in the church, this is the most used term in the Bible to refer to leaders in the church, pastors, elders, bishops, overseers. Whatever you want to use, elder is the one that the Bible uses the most. And all those terms are synonymous, as pastor spoke to this morning. And John is writing to them as one who has authority. He is a pastor and a shepherd, but he is the elder. He identifies himself that way. Not only was he an elder, at this point of his writing, he’s the only apostle left. And as an apostle, he had even more authority, but he doesn’t identify himself as the apostle. He’s the elder. He was the elder.

Clement of Alexandria, one of the men we talked about in our Sunday school class several months ago, he was one of the early church fathers, and he knew John, and he said this about John, that John used to go from his home in Ephesus, he would go to the neighboring districts, and in some places, he would appoint other bishops and elders, and in others, he would reconcile churches, and in other places, he would ordain some who were appointed by the Spirit. That was what John did. He traveled around and visited different churches and he acted as the authority that would come in and appoint elders or give approval to what churches were doing. Or again, sometimes he would reconcile churches that were struggling. We saw that in 1 John. He was a man that had authority and that helped the church. He loved the church.

So John identifying himself as the elder is he’s just not throwing a title out there. He’s showing them, I care for you. I am your elder. I’m an elder in your church. And he wants to communicate this to them. And again, he says he’s writing to the elect lady and her children. We talked about that earlier. And there are good arguments either way, whether it’s an actual lady and her children or whether it’s signifying the whole church. And again, it really doesn’t affect the message of the letter, so it’s not all that important. But John uses the word elect here. He’s using the word elect. He’s reminding them of who they are. And in John’s gospel, he records the words of Jesus speaking to his elect, his chosen ones. And Jesus says in John 15, 19, if you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this, the world hates you. Jesus chose believers out of the world. And that’s the reason why believers are hated. John reminds them of who they are, the elect. The ones Jesus chose. They are God’s. They are Jesus’ own sheep. They belong to him. They are the elect. Then he says, whom I love in truth.

So John clearly loves these people. But he’s not saying that he truly loves them. although he probably does truly love them. He’s saying, I love you in the truth. And there’s a difference there. The way that he’s saying it, the way that this is structured is saying that it’s because of the truth that he loves them. He loves them in the truth. It’s like saying, I love you in Christ. It’s not saying I don’t actually love you, but it’s saying it’s because of Christ that we love each other. And he goes on to say, and not only I, but also all who know the truth. And that’s how we know what he’s talking about. He loves them in the truth, and so does everybody else who’s in the truth. We love each other. We love one another. It’s who we are. John is saying it’s the truth that unites all who are in the truth. Everyone in the truth is united by love for one another.

So in the truth is another term for Christians. All who are in the truth are believers in Christ. And this is why the truth is so central to who we are. This is why we cannot lose the truth. We can never compromise on the truth. And so many today are willing to sacrifice the truth for the sake of love. So many today are willing to overlook sin for the sake of love. Rather than speak the truth that God’s word tells us to speak, we would rather ignore sin and claim it’s because of love. And really it’s because of selfishness, because of fear. It’s not out of love. Because true love speaks the truth. I mentioned Ephesians 4.15 earlier, we are to speak the truth in love. It means we can speak the truth in a way that’s not loving, so we need to be loving in how we speak the truth. But we can’t be loving unless we speak the truth. To minimize the truth in the name of love is to abandon love altogether. Because love is founded upon the truth. We can never love one another if we ignore the truth.

It was Martin Luther who said, peace if possible, truth at all costs. It just shows his priorities. Yes, peace, however possible. If at all possible, we want to be peaceable with one another. We want to be united, but not at the cost of the truth. Truth at all costs. We cannot sacrifice the truth because it is the truth that unites us. So the first result of walking in the truth, what John is encouraging them to do, the first result is we are united. Truth unites us. The second result of walking in the truth here is in verse two. In verse two he says, for the sake of the truth, which abides in us and will be with us forever. The truth abides in us. It indwells us.

He begins with, for the sake of the truth. This is the third mention of the word truth in two verses. For the sake of the truth. And if you look at how this is written, this is the reason why he’s writing. He introduces himself, says who he’s writing to, and then he says, for the sake of the truth is why he’s writing this letter. Now, as we’ll see later on in this letter, what they were doing was really associating and fellowshipping with these false gospel teachers, these false shepherds, these ones that had gone out because they were departing from the gospel. They went out from us because they were not of us, and yet these believers were continuing to welcome and fellowship with these ones who were not of the truth. And John says, for the sake of the truth, I’m telling you to stop it. Stop welcoming them in. Stop having them over for dinner. Stop being so kind to these people who are distorting the truth. He’s warning them. And it’s for the sake of the truth.

He doesn’t want them to lose the truth. He doesn’t want them to sacrifice the truth. just so that they could have fellowship with these people. But love and fellowship and hospitality are vitally important for Christians. We are commanded to do those things. It is what characterizes who we are. But we cannot do it at the expense of the truth. We cannot genuinely show love apart from a commitment to the truth.

One of the areas that this comes up is in the songs that we sing and listen to. Who is it that’s making this music? There are groups out there that make songs that sound pretty decent. They’re pretty good to listen to. Sometimes they’re on the radio. Different groups like Hillsong and Bethel and Elevation. You might have heard of those groups. They’re pretty popular. They’re some of the biggest Christian groups in the world. They teach a false gospel. Their churches are corrupt churches. They make songs that sound pretty good, and individually, the song itself may not be that bad. But at what point are we fellowshipping with false teachers? At what point are we giving our money to those who do not hold to the truth? Something to think about.

As we think about those who we associate with, those who we fellowship with, what John’s talking about in this letter, are they people who care about the truth? Because John’s concern here is that they don’t lose the truth. And they might say, well, John, we know the truth. We’re not going to go after them. We know they’re, well, little by little, you start to compromise on this little thing or that little thing. Eventually it becomes big things because you don’t want to lose this fellowship and this hospitality. And fellowship becomes more and more important and you start giving truth little by little, pretty soon you’re not going to have much truth left. And that happens all the time.

Truth must fill every aspect of who we are as a church. It must fill our preaching. It must fill our music. It must fill our fellowship. It must fill our evangelism. We are people of the truth. We cannot give up any aspect of the truth. And John says, for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever. Abide is a word that John uses a lot. He speaks of abiding in Christ. He speaks of the Holy Spirit who will abide in us, which is fitting since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. It is through the work of the Spirit that we come to know the truth, and it’s through the work of the Spirit that we remain in the truth. We know that we’re sinners facing God’s judgment. That’s the truth.

And that forgiveness only comes by the grace of God, through faith in Christ. And once we come to know and believe that truth, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, within each one of us. And Jesus promised that the Spirit would come and teach us all things, teach us the truth, help us be convinced and convicted of the truth. And John says, the truth will abide in us and will be with us forever. The second result of walking in the truth is the truth indwells us, it abides with us, it remains with us. And the third result of the truth in a Christian’s life is the truth blesses us. The truth is a blessing, it brings blessing. Verse three says, 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.

This is a verse that is just packed full of doctrine. There’s so much here, every single word. You could have a whole series on this one verse. But John again mentions the truth. It is in truth and love that all of this happens. and it’s the blessing that comes from God. Grace, mercy, and peace. Grace, mercy, and peace. We might read those words quickly as we read the beginning of most letters in the New Testament. Grace, mercy, and peace. But grace, mercy, and peace are revolutionary ideas in our world. Grace, mercy, and peace only come from God. These are divine blessings. Just like everything else in our Christian walk, in our Christian life, they come from God.

It’s like James 1.17. Every good and perfect gift comes down from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. Every good and perfect gift. Grace, mercy, and peace qualify as good and perfect gifts. They all come down from the Father of lights. But John says they come from Jesus too. He uses from twice. He says, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ. John knows there is one source of these blessings, God. And yet he says they are from the Father and the Son. One God who is the source and two persons who are the source.

This is a Trinitarian verse. He’s showing us there are two people called God, two persons called God, two persons that do what God does, and yet there’s one source of these divine blessings. And John’s saying this very intentionally. He’s emphasizing Christ’s identity, because remember who these false teachers are. They were the ones who denied who Christ is. He repeated that in 1 John. Anyone who denies that Christ came in the flesh, anyone who denies that Christ is the Son of God, these were the false teachers. That’s what they were saying. And he’s saying, grace, mercy, and peace come from God and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father.

And they come in love and in truth. In love and in truth. Two things that cannot be separated. Love and truth. The third result of walking in the truth is the blessings that come from God. That the truth blesses. The fourth thing that John reveals about the truth, and this is really getting into the body of his letter, kind of past the introduction. The introduction really stops kind of in verse three, but he gives us another result of the truth here in verse four.

In verse four, he says, I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we received the commandment from the Father. John’s very happy to hear that they’re walking in the truth. In the New Testament, walking is another term for living or doing. It’s used to signify our Christian walk, our Christian life, how we live as a Christian, walking in the truth. are doing just that. They’re walking in the truth. They’re obeying the truth. They’re obeying the commandment, as John says. They’re obeying the revealed word of God. Because obedience to the truth, obedience to God’s commandment, is not optional for a believer.

Again, we saw this in 1 John. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. That’s what Jesus said in John’s gospel, but then John expounded upon that in his first letter. If you love Jesus, you will obey him. It’s cut and dry. John Stott says it this way, God has not revealed his truth in such a way as to leave us free at our pleasure to believe it or disbelieve it, to obey it or disobey it. Revelation carries with it responsibility, and the clearer the revelation, the greater the responsibility to believe and obey it. Now, there are those who disbelieve it and disobey it, but it’s not ambiguous. The truth is not given to us in a way that we don’t really know what it’s saying. We don’t really know what we’re supposed to do. God’s revelation is given to us in order that we would believe and obey it. And John is rejoicing that they’re doing just that. They’re living obediently. They’re walking in the truth of God’s commandment.

This is how any good elder would react to hear this. Pastors and elders, we give our life to preach the truth. And it is rewarding to see the impact of the truth. The goal for every preacher, every pastor, is to see people’s lives changed by the truth. Otherwise, what are we doing this for? We want to see lives changed. And John, after preaching the gospel to them and giving them the truth, is rejoicing that it’s having its effect. that they are being obedient, that they are walking in the truth. And this is instructive for us. This is the desired result of God’s truth, that we would walk in it, that we would be obedient to it. So our lives should be marked with knowing the truth and obeying the truth.

This is a short letter. As I said, it’s more of a postcard. It’s that short. But there’s so much doctrine packed into what John writes. Even just in the introduction here, he’s calling us to know and believe and obey the truth. Because it’s only by recognizing the truth that we can know that we are sinners and that we are deserving of God’s wrath. but that we can receive God’s love and mercy and grace. And it’s because of that that we can genuinely love one another. It’s only knowledge of the truth that allows us to receive God’s love and grace in Christ. And then to love one another as a result. And this is all in truth and in love. John assures us that grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ will be with us forever.

So as a church, the only real foundation for any type of unity is the truth. Not, well, you can stay as you are. You can be who you want to be. As pastor mentioned this morning, you can have the Jesus that you want to have. that will not result in unity because that is not the truth. You cannot believe what you want to believe and be united. Look around the world. Unity is only found in the truth. As a church, we must be united in the truth. It’s the truth that unites that indwells, that blesses, and that controls us. This is at the heart of all the issues in the church, the truth.

If we don’t know the truth, if we don’t live for the truth, if we aren’t the pillar and ground of the truth, as Pastor preached from First Timothy this morning, the church is the pillar and ground of what? The truth. If we don’t have that, we’ll lack discernment. And when we lack discernment, we will let in errors a little bit at a time, and we’ll die from a thousand cuts. We cannot have a low commitment to the truth. We are people of the truth. Our God is the God of truth. of all things to be protected, it’s the truth. Peace if possible, truth at all costs.

We cannot lose the truth. The truth about God, the truth about Christ, the truth about the Holy Spirit. Yeah, those are all important, but also the truth about man, the truth about sin, the truth about salvation, the truth about worship. Anything that the Bible says is true, we can’t lose it. We fight for it. We protect it. We don’t compromise on any of it. Guarding the truth is critical for the survival of the church. We cannot sacrifice the truth for any reason. You cannot sacrifice the truth for love. Otherwise, it’s not love. And it’s only those individual Christians and churches who are planted firmly in the truth that will be able to defend against the attacks of the world, against the attacks of Satan. We must be grounded in the truth. We must be walking in the truth. And that’s John’s introduction to this letter.

Let’s stand and close in a word of prayer this evening. Our God, we thank you for the truth. We thank you for your word by which we can know the truth. I pray that each one here tonight would seek to know the truth more and more, that we would seek to grow in our understanding of what the truth is, and that we would live by the truth, that our lives would be characterized by the truth, that we would fight for and protect the truth of your word. I pray, Lord, that this section of your word tonight would just impact us, that you would instruct us by it, that you would conform us to it. We thank you for the time that we’ve spent together in your word, and that we know that we can only be united because of the truth. Thank you for who you are and the blessings that you do give us because we are people of the truth. We pray all of this in Christ’s name.