In our lives, we have encountered several stories involving the three main characters.  There is the story of the Three Little Pigs.  The story of Robin Hood, Little John, and Friar Tuck. Another story would be the Three Musketeers.  I suspect we could compile a long list of stories with three characters.  Our Scripture reading could be one of the stories on the list.  Our reading today, the whole of 3 John, was about three men: Gaius (guy us), Diotrephes (die-ought-tro-fees), and  Demetrius (dee-me-tree-us).  These three men were Christian leaders known to the Apostle John, and each is mentioned in a letter from John addressed to Gaius.  The three men were either members of the same church or were members of churches near and known to each other.  Churches at this time were not separate buildings. Churches were places where people gathered in a home, usually the largest homes.  The letter contained a straightforward assessment of the spiritual life of Gaius, Diotrephes, and Demetrius as measured by their love for other Christians, particularly through the expression of hospitality.  In his first letter, John spoke about the importance of hospitality among Christians.  In 1 John, Chapter 3, John wrote, “17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18).  Supporting other Christians was, and remains, an essential part of the Christian walk.

          John began his letter this way.  “1 The elder, to my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.  2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 1-4).  John began his letter by affirming Gaius’ standing before God.  John said that he loved Gaius because he, John, and Gaius shared the truth of God.  We have talked about this for the last few weeks.  Christians should love other Christians simply because they are Christians. Here, John took the step to begin his letter to Gaius, making it clear John loved Gaius in and through the truth. John set a good example for us to follow in unashamedly telling other Christians they are loved.

          From a shared standing before God, the Apostle John said to Gaius that it brought great joy to John to hear reports that John was walking in the truth.  So not only did Gaius accept Jesus Christ, but Gaius was working at following Jesus. Gaius’ efforts created joy in another Christian, here John.  Again, John set an example for us to follow.  We should have joy when we see other faithful Christians walking in the truth of Jesus Christ, whether they are part of this fellowship or part of another fellowship.  So when we see other Biblically based churches growing, we should follow John’s example and be joyful at what the Lord does in every faithful church.

          John continued in his joy with Gaius.  “5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. 7 It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth” (3 John 5-8).  John commended Gaius for the welcome he organized for missionaries moving through the city. 

The early church expanded considerably across the Roman Empire because the Romans were so good at building roadways and providing safety and security over those roads.  Missionaries sent out on foot traveled those roadways to share the gospel message. But the idea of a Motel 6 in every city with its light on waiting for the weary traveler was centuries away. Instead, travelers needed hospitality. John cited here that Gaius generously received the missionaries and provided them shelter and food, even though the missionaries were unknown to him.  In the New Testament, Luke, Paul, Peter, and John discussed the need to extend hospitality.  In the immediate case, Gaius offered Christian hospitality, which involves receiving a stranger and elevating them to an equal.  Christian hospitality is receiving an unknown person and having them eat your food and sleep under your roof.  Christian hospitality is receiving that person and introducing them to your circle of friends so the stranger may be welcomed under your reputation and standing umbrella.  What is the reason for extending yourself in this manner for these strangers?  There is only one reason.  These strangers abide by the same truth in Christ that you do. Christian hospitality is extended to visiting Christians simply because they are Christians.

Jesus spoke about his followers giving and receiving hospitality.  As to giving, Jesus said, “12 When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:12-14).  The idea of Christian hospitality is the elevation of others. We certainly can be considered hospitable by inviting family and friends to dinner.  However, Christian hospitality is different in that such hospitality is used to elevate others.

Jesus cautioned his followers to be gracious in receiving such hospitality. When Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him into the surrounding villages, Jesus said, “5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house” (Luke 10:5-7).  The disciples, the first Christian missionaries, were to take nothing with them when they traveled and then to accept the hospitality first offered to them. Those who provided hospitality elevated the disciples without any means of support.  The disciples were then to eat and drink whatever was provided by that household.  However, the disciples were not to move from house to house seeking a better and better place to stay with better food and drink.  The disciples were not to try to become superior to their first hosts. Christians receiving hospitality were to be gracious and accept gifts they had been given.  Christian hospitality is different from worldly hospitality.  Christian hospitality is centered on the elevation of people and the acceptance of the elevation provided.

Gaius was providing Christian hospitality to strangers coming from John’s church, and those returning to the church were talking about the joy they experienced under Gaius.  The sense here is that Gaius would continue to do good in the future.

Having commended Gaius, John turned his attention to a problem stemming from a man named Diotrephes.  John wrote, “9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. 10 So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church” (3 John 9-10). The house church that Gaius was part of, or a church Gaius was aware of, was in the grips of a bully named Diotrephes. Likely, the church gathered in Diotrephes’ home.  Can you imagine a church with a bully?  Yes. Sadly, many of you do not have to imagine such a church, because you have been part of such a church.  Here, a bully named Diotrephes was engaged in four actions markedly different from those of Gaius.  First, Diotrephes would not welcome John.  Second, Diotrephes was spreading false rumors and gossip about John. Third, Diotrephes refused to receive church missionaries.  Fourth, Diotrephes would prevent others in the church from sharing Christian hospitality with the missionaries by kicking out those members who dared to extend hospitality to the missionaries.  Diotrephes was larger and in charge, and wanted everyone to know he had the power. John said the problem with Diotrephes was that he loved being first.

Being first here does not mean Diotrephes wanted to be seated or fed first, although Diotrephes probably was first seated and fed.  What John meant by Diotrephes loved being first was that Diotrephes loved being in charge of everything in the church.  Diotrephes treated the church as his own and did not practice Christian hospitality by elevating people, but instead practiced patronage.

What is patronage, or being a patron?  In this context, Diotrephes was acting as a patron who was only willing to offer financial support, or housing, or meals to those who would be subservient to him.  Diotrephes was not about elevating people.  Diotrephes was about dominating people by using the church to do it. Diotrephes was willing to do something that benefited someone else, so long as Diotrephes benefited from the relationship.  Diotrephes had a “what’s in it for me” attitude.  John condemned Diotrephes’ behavior.

John knew what he was talking about here.  Just before Jesus' arrest, John and James, John’s brother, approached Jesus and asked that one of them be placed on the left and one on Jesus’ right in the kingdom.  Matthew wrote, “24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:24-28).  Being first, meaning being large and in charge, was not to be the behavior of Christian leaders.  Jesus taught that lesson well to John and the other apostles.  John pointed out that Diotrephes, a church leader, was not following Christ and trying to be an authoritative ruler and lord over the local church.

We must examine ourselves to see if we are exhibiting the Spirit of Christ or the spirit of Diotrephes in our Christian walk.  Are we acting like patrons within our church?  For example, if someone said, “I will give the money to renovate the sanctuary provided I get to choose the paint colors, type of pews or chairs to be installed, the type and style of carpeting, etc., otherwise I will contribute nothing” then that person would be acting as a patron. That seems like an obvious situation. There are other, more subtle ways people act as patrons in a church, such as through their giving, positions on church boards, or behaviors that frustrate or demand a specific direction or decision of the church.  All such behavior is a way of trying to lord their standing over others.  John said that he would call Diotrephes about his behavior when he arrived at the church because John sensed that Diotrephes would continue to do poorly in the future.  We should likewise not be afraid to call out similar behaviors within our church to recover a brother or sister.  John told Gaius and us, “11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God” (3 John 11).  Let us then do good so our works may be credited to God.

John concluded his letter discussing the three characters by saying, “12 Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself.  We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true” (3 John 12).  John was commending Demetrius to Gaius. Demetrius may have been kicked out of the house church of Diotrephes for being hospitable to those who did not enjoy Diotrephes’ favor.  John was looking to Gaius to encourage Demetrius.

What should we then take from this story of three churchmen? I think there are two things we should remember about it.

First, Christian hospitality is different from worldly hospitality.  In general, to be hospitable in the world means that someone makes you feel comfortable and at home; that person is being hospitable, providing a warm, friendly environment.  They are welcoming, open, and convey a feeling of goodwill.  Christians would be expected to act in this manner.  What makes Christian hospitality unique is that sense of caring for guests extends further by applying that standard in a way that lifts up other Christians.  Christian hospitality is not just about treating family and friends well; it is about treating strangers as family, who are family in Christ.  Christian hospitality is about using our reputations to help strangers become quickly part of the local body of Christ, the church. Christian hospitality involves risk with the reward of knowing we walk in the truth and bring joy to other Christians. John saw this Christian hospitality expressed by Gaius, and it caused John to have great joy.

Secondly, we learn that Christian hospitality is a significant mark of God’s truth within us and a substantial way the world sees the church.  We see this from John’s initial efforts to get Diotrephes to change his ways.  John, upon hearing that Diotrephes was being a bully and denying simple hospitality by the church, never mind Christian hospitality, sent a letter to the church. We do not have that letter.  But in our letter, John said he was personally coming to the church to set things right.  When behaviors by anyone, perhaps particularly by the leadership, are not according to the truth of God, we must act to set them straight.  Not straight according to what we think is right, but straight according to the truth of God’s word.  The message we send as a church in how we treat other Christians speaks loudly as to how we treat God’s truth and speaks loudly to the world.  If we use the truth to lift other Christians, our love for God becomes more true and evident.  If we refuse other Christians or treat them shabbily, then we grieve the Holy Spirit and essentially deny Christ before the world. Let me give you just a small example. This congregation has exhibited Christian hospitality by receiving and welcoming two other congregations to share in using these spaces and the building.  We have received strangers in the name of Christ.  When I share this news with other pastors or even nonbelievers, there is usually a reaction of surprise and an acknowledgement that opening up the spaces to others is highly unusual and reflective of a desire to be faithful to God’s Word.  Christian hospitality, when practiced, is noticed and does matter.  It is just as true that when we don’t practice Christian hospitality or bully people within the church, it does matter and must be corrected.

God has granted us the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us in following God’s Word, the truth. We can demonstrate our obedience to the Spirit and bring substantial joy by exercising Christian hospitality and encouraging other Christians who were once strangers to us but whom we now see and treat as brothers and sisters. Amen and Amen. 

            I once worked with a church that was experiencing some difficulties in relationships within the church and with the pastor.  I was told I probably would only need to facilitate one or two meetings.  My assignment ended two years later, after about a dozen meetings and as many Zoom calls.  What was accomplished?  It is hard to say.  The pastor is still there.  Most of the members of the congregation remain.  So too do many of the hard feelings.  One of the reasons the church never was able to heal was that the members did not have shared values.  The Old Testament minor prophet Amos asked, “3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” The answer is no.  Two will not walk together unless they agree to do so.  The church members were not walking together because they disagreed on an essential point.  What was the crucial point?  They disagree on this question: “Who is Jesus?”

            Some people in the church believe deeply that Jesus is the Son of God and their Savior.  Some others believed Jesus is possibly the Son of God, but the gospels and the New Testament letters describing Jesus were unreliable, not the Word of God.  Therefore, Jesus may be just a good guy and a good teacher of morals, like others who came before and after him. Still others offered a wildly different view.  In one meeting, a woman said her husband was not feeling well and could not be at the meeting to speak for himself.  However, she said of her husband that he is probably the single largest financial contributor to the church; that this is his church, and he wants to see it flourish, and he is an atheist.  I think you get the point.  The church members were not walking together.  At best, they were going around in circles like bathwater going down the drain.  Sadly, I do not think the church is unique in its conflicted membership.

            Today's New Testament reading from the Apostle John's second letter dealt with conflicted situations.  The letter also addressed the topics we discussed last week: truth and love.  Last week, we saw that truth and love can bring some tension.  Today, we will see that in another context, namely within the church, truth and love create the soil for a wonderful setting of peace.  In that setting, we seek truth and love within the church to be at peace.  What was it that John said about truth and love, and peace?

John wrote, “1 The elder, (John) to the lady chosen by God (that is a church) and to her children, (church members) whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love” (2 John 1-3).  We see three key things in the opening verses of John’s letter.

First, John was writing a letter to a church that he had not been able to visit for some time, calling the church “a lady chosen by God” with its members “children” of God.  John’s letter was clear.  It is written to a church for the benefit of the church members.  It is not written to the world.  Therefore, the words here provide guidance and encouragement for Christians.  This letter is not for nonbelievers.  It is for us.

Second, John said that love and truth can be in harmony within the church.  John began this teaching by saying that he and all other Christians were united to this church and its members because the truth, God, was found within them.  John’s love for the members of the church was not based on sentimentality, family origin, good looks, or anything other than the church members believed Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing, they had life in Jesus’ name (John 20:30).  The church members held fast to the truth and agreed to walk together.  John, also a believer, said he and all other believers in Jesus Christ loved this church because they were walking together with them. I trust you can see why that situation I described with that conflicted church existed.  Not all the members had accepted the truth.   Therefore, love and truth were in tension rather than harmony. When the church is comprised of the truth and worldliness, including atheism, there can be no harmony.  Why cannot the church and worldliness coexist? John gave us that reason in the third point of the opening of his letter.

John said, “2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love” (2 John 2-3).  John said that because the truth is found only in the believer and the church, God gives three things to the believer and the church.  These three are not given to the nonbeliever or the world.  In that order, those three God-given things are grace, mercy, and peace.

What is grace?  Grace is God's unmerited and undeserved kindness. Grace is God’s expression of love received in gratitude as a gift.  Grace is nothing that can be earned or bought.  It is gifted without merit.  God’s grace is found in Jesus Christ because God’s grace is everything a holy and righteous God does for sinners that they do not deserve.  We did not deserve Jesus being sent to us.  God sent Jesus as an expression of grace.  John wrote in the opening words of the Gospel of John, “14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  And “12 To all who did receive him [Jesus], to those who believed in his [Jesus] name, he [Jesus] gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13).  Grace from God is the starting point.  God’s grace reshapes our lives because accepting God’s grace removes us from the world.

What follows from God’s grace is mercy.  Mercy, like grace, is also unmerited.  You cannot earn mercy.  In Hebrew, mercy is granted only within a relationship between the grantor and the receiver.  Mercy is not given or dispensed in some random or unknowing manner.  Mercy is given to those who are known.  John pointed out that having been received unto God through God’s grace and being known to Him, God grants mercy and frees us from sin and the penalty of sin.  Having been forgiven, we know God because He is within us, and we are within Him. God’s mercy reshapes our lives because accepting God’s mercy removes us from sin, the condemnation of sin, and puts us into an intimate and forgiven relationship with God.

From God’s grace and God’s mercy comes God’s peace.  Jesus said peace comes from Him.  “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).  Peace, in the Hebrew context of the time of Jesus, emphasized wholeness and well-being in life.  With such peace comes safety, rest, and the absence of hostility.  We are no longer enemies of God.  One commentator said, “Grace is God doing for us what we do not deserve, mercy is his not doing to us what we do deserve, and peace is God giving us what we need based upon his grace and mercy. The word order is significant. God's grace is always prior. Mercy and peace flow from it” (Akin, Daniel L. 1,2,3 John: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, B&H Publishing Group, 2001).

So God’s truth, when received, brings God’s grace, mercy, and peace given in love to the believer. Having been so nourished by God, believers can then love other believers.  This is why the church I spoke about at the beginning of the message remains in conflict.  Not everyone is a believer who has received God’s grace, mercy, and peace, and therefore lacks the capacity for love like God.  This is another reason I will not conduct a wedding ceremony for believers and nonbelievers.  The believer has received God’s grace, mercy, and peace, but their nonbelieving partner has not.  The couple may eventually have a worldly successful marriage, but they cannot have a marriage as contemplated by God because peace will always be missing. Truth and love will always be in tension.  That may sound harsh, but it is not.  Holding truth and love together in harmony is a blessing for believers only because, in love, God has given the believer grace, mercy, and peace.

As we return to John’s letter, John reminds the church and its members that loving one another is essential to the Christian life.  Christians loving Christians because they are Christians is an indispensable condition of faith.  Jesus commanded his followers to love one another.  John reminds the recipients of Jesus’ command.  “4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 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” (2 John 4-6).  I am guessing that some people in church are a bit weary of hearing the words, “love one another.”   It is said often. I have repeated it several times in the last few sermons.  The phrase “love one another,” appears in one form or another 19 times in the New Testament and is expressed by Jesus twice and then written about by Paul 8 times, Peter 3 times, and John 6 times. Christians loving other Christians is the primary way nonbelievers would know who is a Christian, and is the primary way Christians show their love for God.  I am concerned that the sharp distinction drawn by Jesus and in the New Testament about love within the Christian community has become muted and hard to see within the Christian community today.  Far too often, the mark of a Christian is thought to be a cross pendant around someone's neck or occasional attendance at a church.  Those, dear friends, are not the standards for Christians from the Bible.  If we want our witness to the world to matter, we must love one another.  We can love one another because we have received God's grace, mercy, and peace.  Love one another.

John presented one final point: a warning and a call for self-protection.  John said, “7 I say [all] 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” (2 John 7).  We spoke about John’s concern here a few weeks ago.  Within the church, an idea began to form and spread.  The idea was that Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus was divine, but that Jesus was never human, and, therefore, Jesus never died. There was no virgin birth.  The person called Jesus only appeared to be human, but was not human.  Jesus did not go to the cross; someone else died on the cross in Jesus’ place, with the leading candidate for that role going to Simon of Cyrene, who the gospels said at one point was made to carry Jesus’ cross.  The blood of Simon, or perhaps someone else, was shed on the cross, but not Jesus's blood.  This idea was born because people could not accept that God would die for his people. The technical term for this heresy is Docetism, which was tearing at the foundation of the early Christian church.

John said, “8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 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. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching [the teaching of Christ], do not take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work” (2 John 8-11).  John made it clear that those who claim to be Christian or seek to be part of a church congregation but are not believers, or worse, preach anything other than Christ crucified, should be denied entry.  The purity of the church in matters of doctrine is essential.  The Apostle Paul said similarly when he wrote, “14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16a).

Does this mean nonbelievers cannot come to church?  Certainly, not.  What it means is that nonbelievers cannot become part of the church.  Why?  Because nonbelievers lack God’s grace, mercy, and peace.  Nonbelievers lack God within them and are not within God. Nonbelievers will not influence the church and its members toward Christian ways because those ways are not found within them.  Nonbelievers do not possess the truth; therefore, love and truth are not in harmony but in tension.  If not resolved by submission and obedience to God, that tension will lead to stress and strife within the church, the body of Christ.

John wanted the church and its members to understand that God’s truth and love can be an excellent and harmonious relationship.  The church was designed and intended to be a collection of believers gathered to encourage each other in the faith.  Each believer has received grace and mercy from God, making all equal before God.  They are all a loved child of God.  Because they are and know they are loved children of God, there ought to be peace in their gathered lives.  This is what we all want.  The natural consequence of being at peace with God is loving other Christians just because they are Christians.  A natural result of loving other Christians is showing love for God, who commanded that we love one another.  That love is not only one that encourages individual Christians, but it is also protective by keeping the nonbelievers from joining the fellowship of Christians. There is much to think about in John’s very short letter, especially for those of us who have family and friends who are nonbelievers.  Let us pray.

          There is an expression that many people here would be familiar with.  The expression is, “The tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.”  We use this expression when involved in a tense situation of strong emotions, usually between two sides or people with opposing views.  The expression describes a sense of unease and foreboding that is so heavy that it has a thickness that lends itself to being cut by a knife.  Most people get uncomfortable when they find themselves in such a tense situation.  Many will see if each side can compromise to relieve the tension and the heaviness. It seems reasonable to reach a compromise before the problem leads to hard feelings or ruptured relationships.

          The Bible contains many tension-filled and emotionally charged situations, many of which involve Jesus. The tension of the exchanges was thick, as though one could cut through it with a knife. Let’s look at just a couple of examples.

“13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”  (John 2:13-18).  Jesus created this agitated situation when he chose to cleanse the Temple.  People looked on and thought, What is going to happen now?

In another instance, Jesus had been arrested and stood before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council.  “62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent.  The high priest said to him, “I charge you unr oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”  64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?”  (Matthew 26:62-66).  The tension was thick.  A battle was underway between Jesus and the high priest, Caiaphas.  You could cut the tension with a knife.

We could go on with many more tension-filled scenes with Jesus.  Here is one thing, though, that separates Jesus from most of us. Never once in those tension-filled moments did Jesus seek to relieve the stress and tension that many times came about because of what Jesus said.  Jesus never sought a compromise to ease the tension and allow everyone an opportunity to walk away believing they had something.  Jesus did not try to strike a compromise in the hope that He might create a win-win situation through compromise.  Jesus, who we often speak and sing about as a loving, caring, compassionate, gentle, and understanding God, that Jesus, if he ever owned a knife, never tried to cut the tension with a knife, even if his words and actions created the tension.

So we might ask, “Why did this loving Jesus seemingly create tense-filled situations? Why did this loving Jesus never seek to alleviate tense-filled situations with some soft and comforting words?”  Jesus did not do so because the tension was there for a purpose.  The tension was there to bring about conviction concerning the truth.  The tension Jesus often created or found was not between him and some other group. The tension was between love and truth.

How can love and truth be in tension?  Biblically, truth is absolute.  Something is either true or false.  We read a few weeks ago in the Apostle John’s first letter, these words, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5b).  The message here is that in Biblical truth, something is either true or it is false.  It cannot be somewhat true because that would suggest it is also somewhat false or dark in John’s terms.  “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5b).  Truth has no darkness, yet there can be significant tension between truth and love.  The Apostle Paul would later write, “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).  Why should we speak the truth in love?  Paul wrote, “Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).

Jesus was loving to be sure, but He was God.  Jesus said of Himself, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).  Jesus was loving, but there was no darkness in Him. Jesus spoke the truth in love, a love that sought to heal the sinner and, in doing so, created tension and inner conflict with those Jesus spoke with.  As much as Jesus loved people, Jesus could not compromise the truth.  As a result, the tension remained in those scenes. Sometimes the tension was so thick you could cut with a knife.

The Apostle John picks up on this theme of love and truth and the tension that can come in expressing the truth.  In the last chapter of John’s first letter, John wrote, “5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:1-5).  John hit his readers with the truth that is fully light and contains no darkness.

          The first truth was that “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1 John 5:1a). If you believe in Jesus as the Christ, the anointed one of God, the Son of God, then you have been born from above. You are not the person you were when you were born to your biological mother and father.  You have changed.  God is within you, and you are now within God.  Do you believe that?  You should. It is the truth.

          The second truth is that “Everyone who loves the Father loves His child as well” (1 John 5:1b).  The truth is if you love God, then John said it must also be true that you love His children, meaning Jesus, yourself, and other Christians because all are God’s children.  Do I sense a slight rise in tension when we consider that loving ourselves and other Christians is a sign that we love God?  Are we comfortable standing before God if there is love for self and other Christians?  However, if we do not adore ourselves or other Christians, we start feeling the tension about our standing before God.  You can search the Scriptures, but nothing in the Bible will relieve that tension. Only submission to God’s word will relieve that tension.

          The third truth is that we love God by loving his children and carrying out God’s command.  To demonstrate our love for God, we must love his children and do what God has commanded us to do.  We are expected to represent God well by following his direction.  What are those commandments? Indeed, the moral code in the Ten Commandments is part of what God expects.  Moreover, we are to love God and others as ourselves, believe and follow Jesus, encourage baptism, make disciples, repent, and pray.  Do we have any tension with the truth that we must obey God’s commands as a sign of our love for God?

          The fourth truth was that only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God overcomes the world.  Our faith in God through the saving work of Jesus Christ is not some academic or Sunday pursuit.  Our faith in Jesus is a living transformation of human existence. Through Jesus, our lives are made holy when we walk this path and made eternal before God.  John revealed that holiness and eternal life are only for those who believe in Jesus.  Period.

          The entirety of the truth John talked about rested upon one thing and one thing only.  That was the answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?”  If Jesus were just some person who developed a following of disciples, then what Jesus said was not the truth.  Jesus would have been, at best, a cult leader, who the Romans executed.  We have seen cult leaders in our times.  Men like Jim Jones of the People’s Temple, Joseph DiMambro of the Order of the Solar Temple, Marshall Applewhite of Heaven’s Gate, and David Koresh of the Branch Davidians were all cult leaders who had their truth, not the truth.  Each one of them motivated or coerced their followers into death.

          In this final chapter of John’s first letter, John emphasized that Jesus was not a cult leader.  John said, “6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement” (1 John 5:6-8). Jesus was not the savior, the Son of God, simply because Jesus said so.  Jesus was who he was because the Spirit, the water, and the blood were in agreement.

          What did John mean that the Spirit, water, and blood agreed that Jesus was the son of God?  This statement by John is one of the more difficult statements for New Testament scholars to unravel.  I think we can safely think about John’s statement this way.

          The Spirit of God was upon Jesus, giving testimony that Jesus could do the signs and wonders of God, that Jesus was the Son of God.  Jesus was divine.  That same Spirit descended and stayed upon Jesus at his baptism.  John said as much near the end of his gospel account.  “30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).  The Spirit of God testified that Jesus was the Son of God.

          The blood of Jesus gave testimony that he was the Son of Man.  Jesus was human.  This Jesus, who was the Son of God, was also human, and he bled and died upon the cross. Jesus’ blood, John said, cleanses the believer from all unrighteousness.  The blood of Jesus testified that Jesus was the Son of Man and the Son of God.

          Finally, the water gave testimony. As we have been learning in the Bible study, John used water to tell the story of Jesus. Water is found in Chapter 1 with Jesus’ baptism, Chapter 2 with changing water to wine, and Chapter 3 with new birth coming from water and the Spirit.  In Chapter 5, Jesus was the living water of God, an imagery recreated in Chapters 5, 7, and 8.  I think you get the idea. John highlighted in his gospel the role of water in the story of Jesus.  In most, if not all, of these references, the water relates to prophecies or events of the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures.  Jesus was the fulfillment of scripture, showing Jesus was both the Son of God and the Son of Man.  The water, therefore, represents the entirety of the Old Testament scripture, the Torah, and it testifies to who Jesus is.

          From this point, John said, “9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:9-12).  Jesus was the truth of God expressed in love.  John said whoever does not believe the testimony of God represented by the water, blood, and spirit calls God a liar.  There is that tension again.  Everything in your life depends upon who you believe Jesus is.

          God shared the truth that Jesus is His Son, and if you believe that, you will have eternal life with God.  To say otherwise, John says you make God a liar.  I hope you believe God.  I hope you and I will share this truth lovingly with others, but always without hesitation, reservation, or shame.  Let us love by stating the truth.  Amen and Amen.

            “God is love.”  We read that twice today in John’s first letter.  We read it in Chapter 4, verse 8, and verse 16.  “God is love.”  This is a very much-loved sentence of the Bible.  You can find this phrase on T-shirts, books, posters, coffee cups, and bracelets.  You can also find this phrase coming from the lips of believers and non-believers alike. “God is love.”

            When we hear the phrase “God is love,” we must ask whether John is making a statement of truth or giving us a definition.  What do I mean by that?  If we conclude John is giving us a definition, then “God is love” means “God = love.” If that is true, then we would be inclined, as many do, to see God as passive, permissive, or unquestioningly understanding.   We would see God then as accepting sin or offering love as a sentimental feeling. That is the mindset we get if we believe John defined God by the single word, love.

            However, if we see “God is love” as a statement of truth, we need to know how that truth works together with other statements about God.

• God is Light (1 John 1:5).
• God is Spirit (John 4:24).
• God is Faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9)
• God is Just (2 Thessalonians 1:6)
• God is Gracious and Compassionate (2 Chronicles 30:9)
• God is Mighty (Job 36:5)
• God is Sovereign (Daniel 5:21)
• God is Merciful (Daniel 9:9)

I think you get the picture.  There are a lot of “God is” statements in the Bible. By one count, there are 99 such statements.  Each of them is true.  Each of them differs from the others.  It seems unlikely that when John said, “God is love,” John meant those words as the single definition of God, but rather as another profound truth about God.  The use of many statements about God tells us that the spoken and written word cannot adequately describe God.  They are, at best, an effort to express what God is like, and the collection of “God is” statements still falls short of the mark. God knows that is true.

            John would agree that the single statement, “God is love,” while true, is incomplete.  John said that God showed us what is meant by “God is love” in this way: “God sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him,” and that God “sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9,10). God, who is Just, Mighty, Righteous, Spirit, Faithful, Merciful, Light, and Love, chose to show “God is Love” by sending his one and only Son to the world as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus, God’s only Son, was sent to earth to die for our sins so that we could have life.  I have tried to let that thought sink into my head without shuddering, and I cannot do it.  As much as I think I may love, I cannot conceive that I could express that love by willingly yielding my son over to death to show the depth, breadth, height, and width of that love.  I would not do it, but God did it for me, and God did it for you.  John said God did not send the Son in response to our love for God, far from it.  God sent the Son because God loved us first.  The Apostle Paul went so far as to say that God sent his Son when we were enemies of God.  Romans 5:10, “For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” God acted first and showed Godly love by sending his Son to atone, to take the punishment, for our sins.

            God’s love through the Son was universal, meaning God did not and does not withhold His love from anyone.  However, the life-giving power of God’s love was conditional. The atonement by His Son for our sins, the essence of God’s love, only affects those who believe in His Son.  While God’s love is available to all, it only takes root in those who believe in His Son. Scripture says, “16 For God so loved the world (universal giving) that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him (conditional) shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (universal). 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned (conditional), but whoever does not believe (non-believers) stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18).  God’s love extends to all his enemies, and those who receive God’s love by believing in the fullness of His Son, Jesus, are no longer God’s enemies but become God’s children.  All others who remain God’s enemy.  God meant this when He inspired John to write, “God is Love.”  This is why so many people are sadly mistaken when they believe “God is Love” means God is passive, permissive, or unquestioningly understanding.  They see God then as accepting sin or that his love is a sentimental feeling.  That is just wrong.  God, who is Just, Mighty, Righteous, Spirit, Faithful, Merciful, and Light, loves universally but will not accept us as His children if we do not first accept His love and live following His Son.

            From this sacrificial understanding of “God is Love,” John wrote, “ 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we (believers) also ought to love one another (other believers)” (1 John 4:11). God’s love received and effected in us ought to cause us to love others who have also believe simply because they too are believers.  I spoke about this briefly last week.  John was not discussing a “love everyone in the world” mentality here.  John was talking about loving other believers.  It might be a relief that I do not have to love people who have decided to reject God’s love, who choose to remain enemies of God, and who persecute Christians.  I could choose to love people in the world, but I do not have to love them.  But the effect of God’s love within me ought to cause me to love other Christians just because they are Christians.  Having to love everyone who is a fellow Christian is a sword with a sharp edge. We can choose to love someone in the world, but we have no choice in loving another Christian.  God has accepted them, and as John said, God’s love is complete in them (1 John 4:12b).  Therefore, we ought to love them.  I can tell you from my own experience that there are some Christians who can at times be hard to love.  You might feel the same way, but I ask that you not look around the sanctuary to see if they came today.  Jesus said, and John reiterated, we must love them.

            How do we love other Christians, including the difficult ones? John said, “He has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13). We can love with the power of the Holy Spirit and not through our own doing.  John said to live this life, yes, to thrive as a Christian, you must continually acknowledge Jesus is the Son of God who paid for your sins and that God lives in you and you in God (1 John 4:15).  This is our starting point.  We begin our life in Christ and living it out with the power of the Spirit by interpreting everything through the cross.  Once you accept Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for your sins, meaning Jesus is your Savior who bore your sins on the cross, you exit the world of darkness and enter the light of Christ.  In that light, you have entered a new life.  It is a life in which you now have God living within you, He has given you His Spirit, and you are forever in the embrace of God.  And this transformation of your life occurs because God is love.

            John said, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us” (1 John 4:16). When we love other Christians, we do so knowing that we share the same Spirit of God and are in God's embrace. So our love towards them is about showing our love for God.

            I once spoke with a man who was the father of a few children.  He told me he wanted to be a good father to his children and for them to know he loved them.  He asked me what I thought about different things he wanted to do with his children to show his love.  Some of those things involved fun activities, while others involved discipline.  He was conflicted about how to be a good father and to show his children that he loved them.  Part of this man’s conflict arose because his relationship with the children’s mother was often argumentative and troubled.  I told this man that if he wanted his children to know he loved them, he should love their mother.  To love their mother would be the most convincing sign to the children that he loved them.  If you want God to know that you love him, love those He loves.  Love one another.  It may be a poor analogy, but the principle holds true.

            “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus” (1 John 4:16b-17).  That is a powerful and humbling statement.  God is love. If we live in love, then we are like Jesus in this world.  God’s love drew us to Christ.  Accepting Christ as a sign of God’s love brings us into a new relationship with God that is free from condemnation.  In that relationship, we are to live in love with God and others who have also accepted Christ.  Living lovingly brings a proper image of Jesus to the world, which remains in darkness. You are a light.  Your witness is intended, and life lived in love is intended to draw others to Christ.  The fact that you have the Spirit of God within you is intended to draw others to Christ.  But do we? Do we serve as a light to others? Do we appear as Jesus to others?

            What might we then do to check ourselves to see if we appear like Jesus? Of course, we can ask ourselves some of the most obvious questions.

• Do I forgive my brothers and sisters in Christ like Jesus forgave me?  Or do I only forgive those offenses by a brother or sister that I could see myself doing?  “13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).
• Do I serve other brothers and sisters in Christ like Christ served?  Am I generous and sharing my time, treasure, talents, and tears with other Christians as Jesus did?  Invite those who cannot repay you for your kindness.  “Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14).
• Do I pray for other brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week?  When I say grace at my daily meals, do I also bring to mind and pray for those who have asked for prayer in the worship service?  “Pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

I think you get the picture and probably have heard such things before.  But do we fully love our brothers and sisters to do the hard work Jesus did as well? What do I mean by that?

• Do I love like Jesus and help my brothers and sisters correct their understanding of theology?  Am I willing to say, “Brother, you have it wrong about God,” or, “Sister, we are called to be merciful, not punitive.”  Jesus loved enough to correct his disciples often so that they would bear good witness to others.
• Lastly, and perhaps one of the most challenging forms of love, do I love like Jesus and help my brothers and sisters stop sinning? Am I willing to follow the commands of Christ and speak privately to a brother or sister engaged in sin that they might be restored?  This is hard work.  Jesus repeatedly told people who sought to follow him, “Stop sinning.”  Jesus said, 15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over” (Matthew 18:15).  I can tell you that helping someone through sin is an extraordinary act of love.  You risk much, but it is sweet when we care enough to help someone stop sinning.

John ended this letter section with these words, “Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (1 John 4:21). God is love.  God showed His love through the cross.  God loves those who accept the work of the cross and place their faith in Jesus.  That means God loves you and me.  We then must love one another and be like Jesus in this world.  Amen and Amen.

          What does it mean to thrive?  The dictionary definition is to grow vigorously.  What does it mean to thrive as a Christian? Thriving as a Christian means growing vigorously in a life of abundance, grace, and purpose, reflecting God's love and pursuing His will. It involves actively growing spiritually, mentally, physically, and in relationships, while contributing to the world through unique talents and gifts. Thriving means trusting God's plan, accepting His grace, and finding joy in His provision.  What is the ultimate objective of thriving, of growing vigorously?  Our lives would be transformed into the very image of Jesus.

          The Apostle John wrote at least three letters to his church, seeking to help the members thrive and become like Jesus. In his first letter, John repeatedly used one word to describe the image of Jesus they were to seek.  That word was righteous.  To be righteous was John’s simple moral image.  John described the righteous or righteousness as one who lived in the light of Christ.  It was a life separated from the darkness of evil.  It was an image centered upon the truth of Jesus, separated from the antichrist's lies.  John described that image as one born from above, not an image one could acquire through one’s efforts.  That birth from above came about through the love of God.

          John wrote, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1).  John reminded his readers, and now us, that all things good come from God, and the best thing God could do for us was to make us His children.  What does John mean by being called children of God? One commentator put it this way. In antiquity, the mother was considered the one who gave birth to a child.  It was, however, the father who gave life to a child.  In antiquity, the father decided whether a newborn would live or be abandoned.  The mother gave birth, but the father gave life.  John’s words, “we should be called children of God,” follow that ancient context in that God had chosen to be the giver of life to us and call us His children. We live because God is the giver of life, calling us his children.  We see this thought in John’s gospel, “12 But to all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). 

How often have we thought about that point?  Our existence, as God’s children, is only through the will of God.  What is it that moves God to be our life givers? John said it is simply the love of God. We will have more to say and think about God’s love next week.  But for today, we see that John was making clear that the foundation of our thriving, the foundation of our life, is not our own doing; it is God’s.

          This is such a simple truth, yet many people miss it.  Too many people I meet believe that being a “good person” is the key to thriving and is the key to heaven.  I once counseled a woman, a casual Roman Catholic, who was concerned about death. This woman said, “I just hope I have done enough good things to get into heaven.”  I said, “Oh, I can answer that question for you.”  She said, “You can?”  I said, “Certainly.  You have not done enough good things to get into heaven.  No one can.  Eternal life is not something we can earn.  Eternal life is a gift from God that we must accept.”   After that exchange, we had a good conversation about accepting the love of God to become His children, and in that, we have eternal life.

          What, then, does God require of His children? John shared with us these thoughts, “7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he [Jesus] is righteous” (1 John 3:7).  What God requires of His children is to be right, practice righteousness, in the same manner that Jesus did.  To thrive and grow vigorously, we must live our given life in the pattern of righteousness of Jesus.  What then is that pattern of right behavior?

          John gave us some key things to consider. First, John said, “8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin” (1 John 3:8-9a).  We must first reject sin just as Jesus rejected sin.  I thought, “John, could you have started with something a little easier than not sinning?  Could you have started with something like being kind or compassionate?  Why must you start with the fact that we must not sin?” John could not start anywhere else because John needed to make clear we were called out of the world, out of the darkness, into the light, from the impurities of sin, and into the holiness of God.  Therefore, sin cannot be part of our lives. 

How do we reject sin as Jesus did?  In what way did Jesus show us how to reject sin?  It was in this way.  Jesus lived, spoke, and acted in ways that glorified God.  This is how Jesus rejected sin.  Jesus' approach in every setting of every day was to do what glorified God.

Some people wear wristbands with the initials, “WWJD,” meaning “What Would Jesus Do.”  They do so as a means of guiding their thinking about a decision.  This is not a bad approach to life.  But if you like wearing wristbands, I think there is a better one to wear, “DWGG,” meaning “Do What Glorifies God.”  I believe this is a better thought because every time Jesus spoke or acted, he did so to glorify God.  If we make our decisions consciously by doing and saying what glorifies God, then we have necessarily rejected sin.  To reject sin, we should learn to pause momentarily and say to ourselves “DWGG,” “Do What Glorifies God,” or more simply “GG,” “Glorify God,” and then act or speak accordingly.  To glorify God is to reject sin, practicing righteousness just like Jesus did.

          Secondly, John said, “11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:11-13).  John referred back to the book of Genesis and the first human murder in which Cain killed his brother Abel.  “Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.  The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.  6 Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right [reject sin], will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right [reject sin], sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’  8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’  While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him” (Genesis 4:2b-8).  Abel had glorified God, and Cain had not.  God spoke to Cain and said, “All is forgiven.  Just practice righteousness, do what is right.”  Cain would not reject sin.  Cain would not glorify God.  When the chance came, Cain, representing worldliness, killed his brother, Abel, who represented righteousness.  In his letter to his church, John said, first reject sin, practice righteousness, and then love one another, love other believers in Christ.

          My experience has been that most Christians do not understand that the call here is to love other believers specifically. Far too many Christians believe these words mean we should love everyone.  John’s point is that the foundation of God’s children is their love for each other. 

We might ask, “Is it bad to love everyone?”  The answer, of course, is “No,” it is not.  But what tends to happen when we approach life with a “love everyone” approach is that we don’t love anyone.  Too often, the “love everyone” approach leads Christians to be critical of other Christians while being kind to those they do not know.  One pastor said the “love everyone” approach results in the condition that “The Christian army is the only army that shoots and buries its wounded.”   It is a tough statement, but I have witnessed greater grace given to people of the world than to brothers and sisters in Christ.  That is not what John says we should do as God’s children.

While struggling with imperfections, the church, brothers and sisters of Christ, and children of God should be unique in their compassion and support for those of the church who are hurting or struggling. The church should be seen as a place of healing and forgiveness, even when its members fall short. Jesus said to his disciples, “34 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).  Our love, Jesus said, and John reiterates in his letter, must be poured out onto our brothers and sisters of the church.  It should be unmistakable to the world that we love each other.  This is right.  Doing so glorifies God.  When we love each other, we all thrive in Christ.  We cannot neglect our outreach, but outreach to the world should be founded upon a loving right relationship with each other.

John pressed this point further, saying, “16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18).  Righteousness, acting as Jesus, requires us to be generous with each other.  We must be generous with our time, talents, treasure, and tears towards each other first and foremost.  We must reject sin, practice righteousness by doing what glorifies God, and then love each other generously.

Finally, I want to address one more point about doing what is right.  John said, “1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world” (1 John 4:1-3).  We need to test the spirit.  What does John mean?  Very simply, we must test whether what we receive from others about Jesus is true by the truth of the Scriptures.  You cannot and should not accept the authority of anyone, including me, as preaching the truth.  What is shared with us must be valid according to the Scripture.  Why Scripture?  Because Scripture tells us, “15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which can make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:15-17a).  We must understand that some would like to lead us astray.  It has been that way since Adam and Eve with the deceiver.  We must test what is said to us against what God’s Word tells us.

What does it mean to thrive?  Thriving as a Christian means growing vigorously in a life of abundance, grace, and purpose, reflecting God's love and pursuing His will.  What is the ultimate objective of thriving, of growing vigorously?  Our lives would be transformed into the very image of Jesus.  We will become people who reject sin and do whatever glorifies God. We will become people who love brothers and sisters of Christ, displaying to the world the joy of the Lord and what it means to be a Christian.  We will be discerning.  We will know what is true and misleading because we will check everything against Scripture.  This is the life that God desires for us.  In such a life, we do not exist, but we thrive.  Amen and Amen.

          The end is near.  How many times have we encountered the doom and gloom message that the end of the world as we know it is upon us?  Some years ago, people spoke about the end of time when the Mayan calendar ended in 2012.  In 1843, a New York state man, William Miller, predicted that Jesus would come, and time would end.  It did not. Miller concluded his calculations were off.  He revised his calculations to a new end time date of October 22, 1844.  People gathered on that date at Ascension Rock and waited, but the end did not come.  Is there anything Biblical about describing the end as near? The answer is yes, but perhaps not in our context.

          From our reading today from 1 John 2, John said to his church, “This is the last hour” (1 John 2:18).  Did that mean John thought the end was about to happen?  The answer is no.  The apostles did believe that Jesus would return soon, but they did not know what soon meant.  The way we should understand the phrase “This is the last hour” is that they were living in the time between Jesus’ ascension and Jesus’ return.  This means that they, and now we, are moving closer to the end and Jesus’ return.  And because we are in that “in between” time, we need to be acutely aware of some dangers. The primary threat to the Christian believer in the “in-between” time is from the persuasive deceivers who John calls the “antichrists.”

          In our context, when we hear the word “antichrist,” we are prone to consider the Book of Revelation, the mark of the beast, and the beast himself.  But that is not at all what John was speaking about.  The only time the word “antichrist” is used in the Bible is by John in this, his first letter, and then once again in John’s second letter. Nowhere else will you hear the word “antichrist.”  We should understand, then, what John meant.  The word “antichrist” comes from the combination of two Greek words, anti (ἀντί) from which we get the English word, anti, and christos (Χριστός) from which we get the English word, Christ or anointed one.  So, an antichrist is anyone who is “anti-Christ,” or who opposes Christ.  That is the true meaning of the word antichrist.  We will also find that John aims this word at people who are corrupt and hostile to Christian interests, coming from the church as false teachers engaged in heresy.  John’s use of this word is consistent with John's many sharp contrasting images in his gospel and his letters.  John used such contrasts as “light and darkness, believers of the truth and liars, and now followers of Christ and the antichrists.”  We need to keep in mind that the antichrists John concerns himself with are people who were once part of the church but left the church to preach and to teach something other than the Christ of Scripture.

          Why does John even write about antichrists, and why should we care?  John wrote about the antichrists, and we should care because antichrists are persuasive people, often very friendly people, who lead people from faith, from the road to salvation, to a dark end.  We should care to know who these people are because they are so effective at leading people astray.  We should care to know because, in knowing, we become closer to God.  We should care to know because, in knowing, we become more discerning.  In knowing, we thrive as Christians.  Don’t we want to thrive and not just exist?

          What then did John share about the antichrists to help his church thrive?  John said, “18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard, the antichrist is coming, and even now, many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:18-19).  John addressed this portion of his letter to his “Dear children,” as a pastor concerned for his church.  John felt a personal responsibility for the spiritual welfare of those who were part of the church community in Ephesus.  “Dear children, this is the last hour,” meaning we are between Christ’s ascension to heaven and his return to earth.  When will Jesus return?  John did not know.  None of us knows.  But among us now are many antichrists, people who are saying things that oppose the teachings of Jesus about himself and righteousness.  These antichrists were not strangers who moved in from another place. They were not ugly or sinister-looking people.  These antichrists worshipped in the church, were part of a Christian fellowship, and, likely, were part of the community and neighborhood in which John’s church members lived.  They were known to John’s readers; they may have been family members or friends.  But they broke bonds of spiritual fellowship with the church because they opposed Christ and what he stood for.   John went so far as to say that the departure of these people from the church was done to expose them and their beliefs, thus protecting the church.

          John’s words gave a lot to consider. People had left the church and organized themselves with a message different from the one the apostles had experienced and taught. For example, we spoke last week about how people left the church and taught that Jesus was divine but never human and never died on the cross for the forgiveness of sin.  John’s words were intended to instruct and comfort his church that these people never genuinely believed in Jesus, and their departure from the church was necessary to protect the church.

          In our context today, it can be difficult to accept someone leaving the church who had worshipped with us.  When someone leaves, we might be inclined to think, “Did I say something to offend them?  Did we not meet their needs?  What is wrong with us that these people left us?”  These might have been some of the thoughts John’s readers experienced when family or friends left the church.  But John’s point was “19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19). Sometimes, God moves people to leave the church to protect the church. 

Let me give you an example to consider.  A pastor of a progressive Christian group was recently asked, “Did Jesus die for anyone?”  This pastor said, “Jesus didn’t die for anyone.  Religious leaders killed Jesus because they did not like Jesus’ preaching that we must love one another and welcome the marginalized people of society. Jesus died because Jesus was a social activist.”  Using John’s words, this pastor is an antichrist because this pastor preaches against Christ.  Please understand me.  Jesus did preach to love one another, and Jesus did seek the lost.  But Jesus did not die because he was a social activist. This pastor has left the church's teachings that Jesus died for our salvation, for the forgiveness of our sins. Scripture says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the older Jewish leaders, the leading priests, and teachers of the law. And he will be killed. But after three days he will be raised from death” (Luke 9:22).  This pastor meets the definition of an antichrist, and if you had a pastor who believed and preached such things, it would be good for you if that person left the church because they are an antichrist.  For us to thrive as Christians, we must be able to hear the Word of God proclaimed without alteration.

John continued, “20 You have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist, denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life” (1 John 2:20-25).  If your faith in Jesus Christ is genuine, then you have been anointed by Him, the Holy One, and you know the truth.  If you know the truth of Jesus through the explicit instruction of the Bible, then you can and must tell the truth about Jesus.  John said those who deny the nature and teachings of Christ are antichrists because they don’t know the truth, and will not have eternal life with God.  Some may think John was being extreme here.  But that is not the case.  The apostle Paul said, “3 The time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching. But people will find more and more teachers who please them. They will find teachers who say what they want to hear. 4 People will stop listening to the truth. They will begin to follow the teaching in false stories. 5 But you should control yourself at all times. When troubles come, accept them. Do the work of telling the Good News. Do all the duties of a servant of God” (2 Timothy 4:3-5).  Paul foresaw a time when people would willingly, even joyfully, listen to people who preached against Christ, or antichrists. 

I read some other commentaries recently by pastors of mainline denomination churches. One said, “Jesus died for everyone and not just for those who would believe in him.”  That is false.  We know from John’s Gospel that the good news is limited to those who follow Jesus.  “16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  Another pastor said, “Satanists, as satanists, should be affirmed because satanists are in the world to make it more just.”  This pastor is an antichrist because he preaches that there is redeeming value in following Satan.  What I find deeply troubling about some of these pastors is that they remain part of mainline churches, giving legitimacy to what they say.  This is why it is vital for each person who claims Christ to speak the truth about Christ and challenge teachings that seem or are against Christ.

What then are we to do in response to God’s word found in John’s letter concerning antichrists?  I think there are three things for us to consider.

First, we must accept that there are many antichrists among us today.  The idea of antichrists is not just some end-times consideration.  The idea that there are antichrists among us today is a reality.  Many people left the Church and now preach seductively against the person of Jesus Christ, trying to turn him into something he never was. Too often now, these people masquerade as pastors, church leaders, and congregants.  We do not need to be living in the days prophesied in the Book of Revelation to see antichrists at work.  The antichrists exist today, and we need to be aware of their allure.

Second, Jesus told us there would be consequences for people who preached against him.  Jesus expressed these consequences in a parable.  The king had invited many people to a wedding banquet for his son. Those invited had gathered.  “11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.  13 Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matthew 22:11-13).  The false disciples will be identified and cast out from the kingdom of heaven.  We want to dress in the wedding clothes that Christ gave us so that we are prepared to be in the presence of God.

Finally, you know the truth.  Jesus said, “31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  You who follow Christ are free.  Free to speak the truth that you know.  And speak the truth we must, for it is the truth that will bring joy and fellowship, not just for ourselves but for those who hear the message of truth and respond.

Knowing God and avoiding the antichrists are essential to our thriving as Christians and being a beacon of light and hope to a world that is so otherwise dark. Amen and Amen.

            The year was 1200.  The Roman Emperor Frederick II believed humanity was born with a language at birth, and that language must be either Hebrew, Greek, or Latin.  Frederick was just not sure which language our birth language was.  So, Emperor Frederick ordered several newborn babies to be hidden away immediately after birth.  He gave them shelter and assigned women to feed the children, clean them, and bathe them.  However, the emperor ordered that the women not make any sounds or gestures of any kind in the presence of the babies.  The emperor believed that by doing so, the babies would grow and speak the language instilled at birth.  Does anyone know what language the babies came to speak?  It was not Hebrew, Greek, Latin, or any other language at all because every baby died.  They did not die due to lack of food, shelter, clothing, or bodily care.  They died because they had no hope.  They died from a condition sometimes called “failure to thrive.”  The experiment showed we are not just a walking stomach, an object to be talked about, an article to be handled, or an entity to be sheltered.  We require hope to live.  Without hope, there is no life.  The foundation of hope for Christians is Christ Jesus. 

How, then, do we thrive as Christians? This question is at the heart of Apostle John’s first letter. I want us to look at John’s letter from the context of thriving as Christians.

John’s first letter was written to an early church in crisis.  The church had experienced persecution from the Jews and then the Romans.  That persecution began in Jerusalem and resulted in the stoning of a man named Stephen.  The persecution resulted in the death of John’s brother James by an executioner’s sword.  The Book of Acts chronicles the beatings that Paul experienced due to persecution. Whether known to John or not, by the time he wrote this letter, he was the lone surviving apostle of Jesus Christ. All the others had been killed due to persecution.  The church was no stranger to persecution.  Despite the persecution, or perhaps as some believe, because of the persecution, the church grew.

What was the heresy?  Then, in addition to persecution, the church faced a new crisis called heresy. We don’t use the word "heresy" very often anymore. Heresy is a religious belief that differs from the accepted set of beliefs.  Persecution comes from outside the church seeking to shrink it.  Heresy comes from within the church seeking to divide it.  The early church faced both.  John’s letter dealt with those within the church seeking to divide it with heresy.

Within the church, an idea began to form and spread. The idea was that Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus was divine, but that Jesus was never human and, therefore, Jesus never died.  There was no virgin birth.  The person called Jesus only appeared to be human but was not human at all.  Jesus did not go to the cross; someone else died on the cross in Jesus’ place, with the leading candidate for that role going to Simon of Cyrene, who the gospels said at one point was made to carry Jesus’ cross.  The blood of Simon, or perhaps someone else, was shed on the cross, but not Jesus's blood. This idea was born because people could not accept that God would die for his people.  The technical term for this heresy is Docetism and the heresy was tearing at the foundation of the early Christian church.

Knowing this bit of history, we turn to 1 John 1. John wrote, “1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete” (1 John 1:1-4).  John’s opening words did three things.  First, the words made clear that Christ taught He had two natures: the Son of God and the Son of Man.  Second, the apostles uniformly testified to the truth of Jesus’ dual nature. Third, accepting the truth about Christ brought people into fellowship with God and other believers.

John began by stating Jesus' dual nature was as the Son of God and the Son of Man: “That which was from the beginning” (1 John 1:1a), called Jesus “the Word of Life” (1 John 1b), and was He “with the Father” (1 John 1:2b).  These words are strikingly like the opening words of John’s Gospel, “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1-2). John emphasized the divine nature of Jesus as being with God and as God in the beginning.  The church and the heretics accepted the divine nature of Jesus. 

But John then said of this same Jesus, “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched” (1 John 1:1), “we have seen and heard” (1 John 1:5), and we are purified by “the blood of Jesus” (1 John 1:7b).  John was describing human physical traits and human senses by which John and others observed firsthand that Jesus was, in fact, human.  Moreover, this divine Jesus and human Jesus was the one who bled upon the cross for the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus was divine and human, and John knew it.

Secondly, John said that he and other apostles “proclaim” (1 John 1:1, 3) and “write” (1 John 1:4) these truths about Jesus without hesitation or reservation.  There was no division among the apostles, and each proclaimed, wrote, and testified about Jesus, knowing full well that doing so made them targets for persecution.  As I mentioned a few minutes ago, John was the only member of Jesus’ inner circle who had not been executed for making such claims.

Lastly, John said he spoke the truth to bring fellowship to others. John desired others to fellowship with him because John’s fellowship was with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3).  Fellowship is a deep sense of togetherness among people who have a shared set of binding yet loving convictions. Let me illustrate a moment from my life from this past weekend. I spent time with many of my first cousins as we celebrated my sister’s and my brother-in-law's lives. While it was nice to get reacquainted with some cousins I had not seen in decades, there was still a distance that could be closed with those who are atheist.  In the Book of Amos, we would read, “3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?” (Amos 3:3).  Clearly, the answer is no.  Two will not walk together unless they agree to do so.  When I spoke at the memorial service about the hope believers have in Christ, it was clear that my cousins who are atheists were not walking with me. Thus, while we had friendly conversations, we did not have fellowship because, as John said, our fellowship is with God and his Son Jesus Christ.  That is not true of atheists.  John was laying the foundation that those who had been in the church but now denied the person of Jesus had broken fellowship not just with other believers but with God and his Son Jesus Christ.

            John addressed the divided situation within the church in a pastoral manner, seeking to clarify his authority, the risk he was willing to take to proclaim the truth, and the substance of the truth so that the church's people would thrive. John then gave them the message again, emphasizing the risk heretics faced in denying the truth about Christ.

            John wrote, “5 This is the message we have heard from him [Jesus] and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). The point here is quite sharp and absolute.  People will be found either in the light of Christ or in the darkness of evil.  You are either in fellowship with Jesus or you are not.  There is no gray area.  People who fellowship with Jesus thrive in a Godly sense and have eternal life with God. Those who are not in fellowship with Jesus do not thrive and will have eternal separation from God.

            John made this point even sharper.  “6 If we claim to have fellowship with him [Jesus] and yet walk in the darkness [deny his nature], we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:6-7).  If you claim you follow the teachings of Christ but you deny truths about him, John says you are a liar to claim fellowship with Jesus because you are not in fellowship with Jesus.  In John’s context, people claimed the divinity of Christ, denied the human nature of Christ, and yet still claimed to be in fellowship with Christ.  John said you cannot deny the blood of Jesus that bought you salvation and say you are in fellowship with that same Jesus.

            Finally, John said, “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:9).  Perhaps, John specifically had in mind here that if those who deny the humanity of Christ believed they had not sinned, then they need to think again. Saying untrue things about Jesus, all the while claiming to be a Christian, is a sin.  It is an affront to God.  But John gave some good news here, “9 If we confess our sins, he [Jesus] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).  We can be in fellowship with Christ through confession of our sins to Him. If we have made a mistake, Jesus, and only Jesus, can fix it for us.  That is the good news of the gospel of Jesus.

            This is such an important point that John did not want anyone to miss it, so he repeated it, “10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.  1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He [Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 1:10, 2:1-2).  John wanted to preserve the fellowship of believers and invite new people to join, as well as those who had been led astray, to come back into fellowship with Jesus.  John wanted people to have hope and to thrive as Christians.

            John began his first letter to combat a heresy within the church while the church separately experienced persecution.  The church universal continues to experience persecution.  In the United States, there is a persistent but low level of persecution. We are fortunate that the government is prohibited from engaging in persecution by the Bill of Rights of the Constitution.  However, the church, particularly in the United States, faces many heresies that have divided the churches, leaving many in darkness.  One of the major heresies of today’s American churches is the opposite of Docetism, called Arianism.  Arianism is the belief that Jesus was human but was not divine.  It is the mirror image of Docetism that John wrote about. A survey done in 2015 showed that 44% of all Americans believed that Jesus was only human and was not or likely not divine.  Many of these people regularly attend churches.  This is a belief of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Progressive Christian movement, and the United Universalists, and increasingly, it is the view of some churches of mainline denominations.  The Word of God tells them all these people are not in fellowship with God and his Son, Jesus Christ.  These groups will not thrive, do not possess hope, and end in darkness.

            To thrive as Christians, we must know what believing in Christ means.  At the highest level, there are five things I would like us to test ourselves on today about our own beliefs.  To thrive as a Christian, you and I need to:

1. Belief in one God, existing as three persons—Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit—equal in essence, distinct in role (Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14).
2. Jesus is entirely God and fully man, born of the Virgin Mary, who lived a sinless life, died for humanity’s sins, and rose bodily from the dead (John 1:1, 14; Philippians 2:5-11).
3. Salvation is a gift from God, received through faith in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, not earned by works (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:1).
4. The Bible is divinely inspired, authoritative, and sufficient for faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
5. Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead, and believers will be resurrected to eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:20-23, Revelation 22:12).

You can certainly add more to this list and make it better. However, these five beliefs seem essential to agreeing with Jesus and fellowshipping with Him. These beliefs will keep you on the same road with Him, moving toward the same destination. These beliefs allow us to fellowship through the joys we share and the trials of life.  If you struggle with any of these beliefs, we should talk and see whether it is a matter of how I expressed something or that your struggle runs deeper.  As John said, knowing the truth and believing in it is shared so that we can have fellowship with the Father, his Son, Jesus Christ, and each other.  When we can do that, then our joy will be complete.  Amen and Amen.