· By way of quick review… Truth matters. And God said He is the truth and God said that He is love. The integrity of our Christian life can be measured by our love for one another…, AND our love for God.

· There isn’t a situation or a moment of your life where you have to decide if you should walk in truth or in love. NO matter the challenge or the enemy or the situation or the contest. Filled by the Holy Spirit you can walk in truth and walk in love. The error is when people start to think they have to give one up. Not so. Jesus never did… Not for one moment. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…, without interruption…, and love others as yourself…, without interruption. This is the fulfillment of the law.

· John says, look to yourselves! We are all too often looking to others. To either affirm us or agree with us. Truth needs neither of those things…, and newsflash, neither does love…

2 John Chapter 1 Verse 9

· Very clear, very blunt statement by John and one that you find in his first letter but not with this clarity. He says definitively, if someone denies the doctrine of Christ, they don’t have God. The truth of God comes through the Son of God and without the Son of God, you simply don’t have the truth of God…

· But they are so loving. Doesn’t mean they are of God. But they are so kind, they make me feel so valued, they have such unity, they have name tags that say they are something! Doesn’t mean they are of God. If the doctrine of Christ isn’t there, if they don’t get Jesus right, then they do not have God… The clarity in this verse is undeniable.

· Now, what is the doctrine of Christ? Doctrine simply means “teachings.” So, the doctrine of Christ is/are the teachings of Christ. Not the teachings about Christ. What John is saying is someone who denies the teachings Christ Himself gave… You cannot have Christ and deny what He taught.

· Jesus said in John 10:30, “I and My Father are one.” Jesus said in John 14:9, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father…” We can go on and on with verse after verse… You don’t even need to do any type of careful study of the teachings of Jesus to conclude very definitely that Jesus’ teaching was that He Himself was and is God sent to earth in the flesh to fulfill the law, die in the place of sinful man to save us from our sins…

· And so, John says that if you deny that, well Paul put it this was in Galatians 1:6-9, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”

· Ok that’s outright denial of the deity of Jesus Christ, and, let me bring this to a very personal and yet critical level in the life of the true believer. Jesus also taught many things… such as the Kingdom of God are for those that have the maturity, the discipline, the wisdom and the reverence towards God to humble themselves. Luke 6:36 says, “Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” Teachings such as this are also the doctrine of Christ…

2 John Chapter 1 Verses 10 - 11

· John has had it with deceivers. And so has God, frankly. And the admonition of the scripture is to stop them at your door and do not greet them. In other words, do not wish them well as they come or as they go… That’s tough! Now, how do you balance that with the calling to evangelize? Well, for me, I’ll do that on my porch…

2 John Chapter 1 Verses 12 – 13

· I love that. John’s desire is to build up and protect the church AND to enjoy a strong and fortified community. Come together and have fullness of joy… Not problem after problem especially ones that have been instigated by deceivers. Let’s enter into what Jesus has done for us all fully. Walking in the truth AND love!