It is not only the gift but also the gracious manner in which it is given that exceeds our powers of description. Reason falters, logic fails, oratory stammers when confounded by this mystery.
There is a third reason why the gift of God is indescribable. We have seen that the gift itself is indescribable. We have seen that the grace by which it is given is indescribable. God’s gift is also indescribable for the effects it produces. This is unmeasurable by human beings.
Seventh, we have a home in heaven prepared for us by Christ. Just before His crucifixion Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-3).
There are few subjects in the Christian life more puzzling to more of God’s people than prayer. On the surface we might think that prayer should be the most natural and uncomplicated part of Christian living, for what should be more natural than to speak out of one’s heart to one’s heavenly Father? Nevertheless, in practice Christians are often confused by prayer and ask: What is prayer? Does prayer change things or does prayer merely change the one who is praying? How should we pray? What should we pray for? Can we be sure that God always hears prayer? Can we be confident that He will answer it?
Certainly these were new and bold teachings that Jesus gave on prayer, and they were remembered as such by John. They are the basis of his extraordinary confidence. But the Christian is not to suppose that God will grant just anything he might happen to pray for, however foolish or sinful it may be, just because he prays for it. He must pray according to God’s will.
The encouragement to pray for others is based on a great promise, namely, the promise that God will hear and “give… life for them that sin not unto death” (v. 16). John has spoken often in this letter of the need to pursue righteousness as one evidence that the individual involved is truly a child of God.
In yesterday’s study, we concluded by looking at the first view of the “sin unto death.” Today we look at two other approaches.
We do not need encouragements not to pray. That comes naturally. But we need great encouragements to pray, particularly for others. In this responsibility we are greatly encouraged by John’s teaching and by the example of the Lord Jesus Christ in His prayer for Peter.
It is entirely appropriate that a book dealing with the subject of Christian assurance should end with three final affirmations, introduced by the repetitive phrase “we know” in verses 18, 19 and 20. In some ways these statements are a summary of much of what John has been teaching. In another sense they are a reminder of how important affirmations are to Christianity.
John’s first affirmation is that the one who is truly born of God does not sin. At first glance this statement seems to be contradictory to John’s repeated declaration in chapter one that anyone who says that he does not sin or has never sinned is either self-deceived or a liar, just as the section in chapter 3, verses 4-10, seemed to be contradictory to those same statements. But the contradiction is only an apparent one, and our discussion of the earlier passage indicates how we should deal with this.
The second of John’s affirmations is that “we are of God,” joining himself to his readers in this certainty. But where does the certainty come from? In the first instance the certainty that the one born of God does not sin comes from the ability of Jesus (or God) to keep the Christian. In this case the certainty that “we are of God” comes from the fact that the tests of righteousness, love, and sound doctrine have been applied and the results discovered to be positive.
This leads to the third of John’s affirmations, which is, as Stott says, “the most fundamental of the three.” This strikes at the very root of the heretical Gnostic theology, for it is the affirmation that the Son of God, even Jesus, has come into this world to give us both knowledge of God and salvation.
Once we know Him, what then? Then we must keep ourselves from idols. In verse 18 John has written that the Son of God will keep the Christian, but this does not relieve the Christian from his own responsibility to persevere in God’s service. Rather than drifting, he must draw near to God and grow in the knowledge of Him. For only then will he be truly kept from idols.
The letters of 2 and 3 John are the shortest books of the New Testament, shorter even than Jude or Philemon which also each have only one chapter. But this does not mean that either 2 or 3 John is insignificant. To be sure, in some ways each merely repeats the general message of 1 John, which is longer. But the repetitions are made in two distinct contexts which in turn give a unique direction to the letters and call forth new emphases.
One similarity between the two letters is that each begins by the author’s introduction of himself as “the elder.” In the one case he writes, “The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth” (2 John 1). In the other letter he writes, “The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth” (3 John 1). Traditionally the identification of “the elder” plus the unnamed author of 1 John and of the fourth Gospel has been fixed as John, the son of Zebedee, who became an apostle. The captions of the books themselves indicate this.
At the conclusion of yesterday’s devotional, we mentioned one reason why Eusebius’ reference to Papias may not prove the existence of two Johns. Today, we begin by offering another reason.
In yesterday’s study, we concluded with John Stott’s insightful question: “Is it possible, that a man of such prominence, who exercised such authority and wrote three Epistles which are included in the New Testament canon, should have left no more trace of himself in history than one dubious reference by Papias?”
We may wish to answer that such may indeed be possible, as an outside though highly unlikely chance. But it is not probable. Consequently, we rest on sound ground when we perceive the importance and widespread authority of the author to be that of none other than John, the son of Zebedee…
The messages of 2 and 3 John are not just for an earlier age, despite the unique and particular problems to which the letters are addressed. Like all Scripture they have a message for our own time also.
No other books of the New Testament more clearly reflect the current letter writing style of the first century than do 2 and 3 John. There is an opening greeting, in which the author identifies himself and names those to whom he is writing. There is an opening salutation. This is followed by the body of the letter, containing the message. Then there is a closing salutation in which the author expresses his hopes of seeing the one to whom he is writing and sends a final greeting. The letters of 2 and 3 John follow this format. But, like the other New Testament books which also follow it, particularly the Epistles of Paul, these books introduce distinctly Christian ideas by which the conventional forms are both elevated and transformed.
The unique feature of this opening salutation is John’s surprising emphasis upon truth and his linking of the truth he thus emphasizes to love. Indeed, the word “truth” occurs four times in the first three verses and one more time in verse four.
There is much in the life of the local church to give John cause for rejoicing, but this does not mean that there is no more room for growth. These to whom he writes are Christians. Their lives meet the three tests: the moral test (which is righteousness or obedience to God’s commands), the social test (which is love), and the doctrinal test (which is the test of truth or sound doctrine). But this does not mean that their lives are as marked by righteousness as they might be, that they love each other fully, or that they have totally assimilated the whole of Christian doctrine.
There is a true progress in the Christian life, but it is progress based upon a deeper knowledge of the historical, biblical Christ. Progress on any other ground may be called progress, but it is a progress that leaves God behind and is, therefore, not progress at all.
The second part of John’s instructions to the local church reveals how strongly he feels about the danger. For here the Christians are not only warned. They are also instructed to have no part in encouraging either the false teachers or their false doctrines. In fact, says John, do not even greet them, for in so doing you may be sharing in their wicked work.
The messages to or about these three personalities give a straightforward outline to the book. There is: 1) the message of Gaius, who is termed a fellow worker; 2) the message about Diotrephes, who is causing the problem; and 3) the message about Demetrius, who is designated as an example to all.
Today many regard truth as nonessential, so long as good deeds are done. But John does not favor this view, nor does he regard it as possible. According to the apostle, good deeds flow from truth, just as love flows from it. For it is only as one walks according to the doctrines of the Word, which he has been taught, that truly righteous acts become possible.
Here is a great word for those who would like to be engaged in front-line Christian work but who cannot, due to ill health, circumstances, or other pressing obligations. In God’s sight those are fellow workers who merely support others by their gifts, interest and prayers.
We may grant that there was a struggle for power over the affairs of the local church. But John attributes this, not to a mere difference of opinion about who should have the final word, but to obvious sin; for John argues that the struggle came about because Diotrephes loved “to have the preeminence.”
In verse 11 we have what seems to be a general exhortation to do good and not evil. But in the context of the letter the evil example is most obviously Diotrephes, and the good example, Demetrius. Consequently, the exhortation leads directly into what follows. The personal nature of the maxim is conveyed by the word “imitate.”
Do you remember where that expression “Pyrrhic victory” comes from? It comes from a battle that took place between the Greek armies directed by General Pyrrhus and the Roman armies in the year 279 B.C. The Greek armies were in southern Italy, and they were engaged in a massive conflict with the Roman forces. The armies under Pyrrhus lost thousands of men, even though they won the battle, and Pyrrhus lost some of his most able commanders. And he lost all of his supplies and baggage. After the battle, one of the Greeks came up to him and congratulated him on his victory. Pyrrhus replied, “Another such victory and we are ruined.” And so a Pyrrhic victory came to refer to a victory which is a genuine victory, according to some standards, but which is won at a devastating and destructive price. Now that’s what we’re talking about when we’re talking about the death of Jesus Christ.
However, it wasn’t only the enemies of Christ that seemed to have won on that Good Friday. It was also a victory for the devil, or so it seemed. The devil had begun his onslaught against Jesus even before the religious leaders. Even before the leaders knew He was around to cause them trouble, the devil knew He was there.
Jesus is the One who described Himself in John 14:6 as the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus said, “No one takes my life from me. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” But when Jesus stood alone before this formidable foe, it seemed by any reasonable analysis, any objective appraisal, that it wasn’t Jesus who was victorious, it was death.
Yesterday, we concluded by making the point that Jesus’ resurrection is proof that God the Father accepted Christ’s sacrifice for our sins on the cross. And not only that, the resurrection is also a victory because it shows that the ravages of sin will be reversed—those ravages of sin which affect us in our bodies and eventually bring about our physical death.
Because Jesus has removed death’s sting by His death in our place, although physical death comes, for believers what follows is the receiving of our resurrection bodies. This is necessary because, as Paul himself says, flesh and blood can’t inherit the kingdom of God. You have to have a resurrection body. We have to lay aside this body in order that we might take on a new body in order to be able to be presented in heaven.
When you talk about Utopias biblically, you find that there are two. There is a Utopia in the early pages of the Word of God, the Garden of Eden, and there is a Utopia at the end in the book of Revelation. The one at the beginning we have lost and can never go back to; the one in Revelation is before us, which we can enter, but the way in which we are to enter is by the cross and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God gave Adam a paradise in which he had useful, meaningful work to do. God could have done without Adam of course. He did not need Adam to bring the universe into existence, nor did God need Adam to do anything once God’s work of creation had been completed. But when God created Adam He understood that part of Adam’s wellbeing had to do with significant work.
So now we have this paradise, a perfect place, with a perfect man, being given perfect work to do, and with a perfect companion. And yet, as we know, through the temptation of Satan in the form of the serpent, Adam turned his back on that paradise because he turned his back on God and he sinned.
And so we come here to Revelation 21and see the presence of God again with His people. It’s a glorious scene. We then see something else. We see described the bride of the Lamb, that is, the bride of Christ. This bride is a holy bride, a bride without blemish, without stain, a bride who has been made perfect through the work of Jesus Christ, perfectly adorned for her husband. This bride is the Church, the communion of the saints.
Our Lord was raised from the dead and because He was raised, those who are united to Him in saving faith will be raised also. You know how the apostle Paul talks about it in 1 Corinthians 15, that great chapter on the resurrection. He says that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (v. 50). But at the last trumpet, all those mortals who are united to Christ by faith will put on immortality, and what is perishable will put on the imperishable.
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