Friday, May 16, 2025

PT-9: "The Test of Christian Hospitality" (2 John 9-13)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/16/2025 9:33 PM

My Worship Time                      Focus: Focus:  PT-9 “Truth: “The Test of Christian Hospitality”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  2 John 9-13

            Message of the verses:  9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.

    10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

             12 Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made full. 13 The children of your chosen sister greet you.

 

            I continue to quote from John MacArthur’s sermon in this evening’s Spiritual Diary, and just to let you know with this SD we are now ¾ through this rather long sermon.  It is best to look at the previous Spiritual Diaries on this sermon so that you can follow what is being taught in this sermon.

 

            “Listen. You can’t be saved without the gospel. You can’t even be saved with a warped gospel. You can’t be saved without believing in Jesus Christ. You can’t even be saved without believing in the one true Christ.

            “Galatians 1, Paul says - and it can’t be, again, argued what he means because it is crystal clear. “Even though we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you,” let him be what? - “let him be damned.” And in case you didn’t get that. Verse 9, “As we said before, I say again, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you’ve received, let him be damned.” You can’t get there without the gospel and you can’t get there with a warped gospel.

            “Anyone who doesn’t acknowledge the true Christ and the true gospel does not know God, does not have God, no matter what he claims. The one who abides in the teaching of Christ about Christ, he has both the Father and the Son.

            “You know, you really have to look for this today. I mean you have to have your theological magnifying glass with the little nuances people want to use to somehow escape a real assessment. The one who is faithful to a biblical Christology, the one who menō, remains in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. You don’t get the Father without the Son. You don’t get the Son disconnected from the Father. There’s no possibility of knowing God apart from knowing Christ. This is the strongest statement on gospel exclusivity anywhere. It’s a package deal. You don’t know the Father except by the Son. “No man comes unto the Father but by me.”

            “So that is the principle of looking for the truth. And when you meet someone who has perverted it, deviated from it, added to it, gone beyond it, act wisely - act wisely. And how would you act wisely? Verse 10, “If anyone comes to you,” and they did, this is a - “A” with the indicative, a likely condition. Probably happened to this lady, as I said, as to many through the centuries and many even today, and even us as they kind of come into our house through the television and radio and whatever and sometimes even knocking on the door.

            ‘“If anyone comes to you and does not bear this teaching” - what teaching? The teaching of Christ, that is about Him by Him - “do not receive him into your house.” This is not someone coming to learn from you or you’d never be able to witness to an unbeliever. This is someone coming to teach you lies. You understand the difference? We answer the questions of the ignorant. We answer the questions of those who want to know. We don’t affirm or give a platform to the deceivers. The fastest way to put them out of business is to make sure that you never receive them.

            “If anyone comes to you - I’m not talking about someone ignorant who wants to understand the truth. We’re talking about an apostate, lying deceiver looking for a foothold embedded in the fellowship of believers to make money off the unsuspecting while he plies his evil lies. Don’t receive him into your house. He could have said, “Don’t receive him in your church.” That’s true, but then churches were not the first place they would go. Why? Because churches were protected by what group of men? Elders.”

            I just have to say that this is a wonderful sermon, wonderful because it explains some very important things that John wrote all the way back from the end of the first century, and it is so needed for us today.  I have mentioned on a number of times from my Spiritual Diaries that a bank teller before they begin their job has to know everything to be known about real money, and the reason they learn about real money (bills) is so when a false one comes across their bank window they know something is wrong with it and therefore know it is counterfeit.  Now as a believer, a true believer in Jesus Christ you have to know, you have to learn the truths of the gospel, know it so well that when you hear something or someone who is preaching a false gospel you know it is wrong, and you know it because you know the truth.  So my advice is for whoever reads this SD or anyone that I write is to learn your Bible by reading and studying it each and every day.

5/16/2025 9:50 PM

 

 

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