we are up to 2 John. What's lovely is that we can finish one book very quickly in one
week, one sitting, one service. So we've got the one chapter there in 2 John and look
at verse number 2, it begins by saying, for the truth's sake, the title of the sermon
this afternoon is, for the truth's sake. Okay, so we're going to focus on this topic
of the truth here, but if we start there in verse number 1, we have a really interesting
introduction and to be honest with you, I never really thought much of the second, the
book of 2 John. Initially when I would read through this book, I would think, okay, this
is John writing a letter to a specific family, but it begins by saying, the elder unto the
elect lady and her children, it was actually our brother Jason Park and we were having
a conversation, I can't remember if it was just maybe over lunch or was it one of our
breakfast meet-ups, and you know, he told me that he believes that 2 John chapter 1
is about the elect lady is a specific church. And you know, he kind of got me thinking about
that, you know, that actually sounds right. And as I read through this epistle, it definitely
appears that he's speaking to a church there, but using kind of cryptic language and I believe
we're going to understand why that cryptic language is used when we get to 3 John, but
I'll touch upon that when we get to 3 John. But I want you to notice, John introduces
himself as the elder, the elder unto the elect lady and her children. So let's take that
view that the elect lady is a church or maybe a church that he pastors and her children
would represent the church members, whom I love in the truth and not I only, but also
all that, sorry, and also all they that have known the truth. I like that. You know, he's
able to say as the elder of the church, that he loves the church people, that he loves
the church people, but then he says by everybody that he's of the truth, also ought to love
this church. And you know why this touches my heart is I often hear people say to me,
pastor, you know, this is the only church in Australia that preaches the truth. And
when I hear that, I get worried because I know that's not the case. Okay. Yes, we might
be more correct on doctrine. I'll give you that. But there are many churches in Australia
that preach the truth. There are many churches in Australia that have saved brethren. Okay.
You're going to hear great things. I mean, there are many pastors out there that are
going to teach great sermons, great topics that I'll probably never touch. And I tell
you, I love, I love those churches. My daughters right now visiting a church in Adelaide. You
know what? I love that pastor and I love that church. And I even know some members in that
church. I truly have a love. I have a love for God's people. You know, I'm not here trying
to compare my church to another church. And you know what? We're independent. Is that
what we are? Independent Baptist churches. We're focused on the work that God has given
us this church to do in the area that we're in. And you know what? Those pastors of their
church, they're focused on the work that they're required to do for the Lord's sake. And so
I'm never sitting there and comparing one church to another church, myself as a pastor
to another pastor. I know when Pastor Stevenson comes here on a Wednesday, we muck around.
We kind of have a bit of a, you know, it's all muck around, right? You all know we muck
around and we tease each other, but we are not in competition whatsoever. Pastor Stevenson
feels comfortable in this church. You know what? At the time I went to visit his church,
I felt comfortable at his church. Why? Because that is how we ought to be as believers. I'm
thankful that there are at least some churches. You know, I mean, it's rare now. It's getting
harder and harder to find really good churches, but they're still out there, brethren. They
never had this attitude. It's just us. And you know why that brings to my remembrance,
this thought here, what I really like is that John, we know that John was the apostle, right?
One of the apostles and the apostle whom the Lord loves that we read about in the book of John.
And if you can quickly keep your finger there and come with me to John chapter 21. So if John,
as an apostle, is saying he is an elder, what is he saying actually? He's a pastor. Is he not?
Doesn't he hold dual offices? Because not every apostle was a pastor. Like the apostle Paul was
not a pastor because to be an elder, to be a pastor, to be a bishop, you have to be the
husband of one wife. And Paul was an unmarried man. So he qualified for the office of an apostle,
but Paul did not qualify for the office as an elder or a pastor. Okay. But we see John,
he is an elder. Now he is the pastor of this church. And from what I can gather from looking
at 2 John and 3 John together, it looks like he's kind of in my position trying to pastor
multiple churches. Okay. Now, the reason I'm going to turn to John chapter 21 is you may recall this
story. And let me just get to the point because it's not in my notes actually, but John 21
and verse number 15. Verse number 15, it says, So when they had dined,
Jesus saith unto Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him,
Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. So we see that
Jesus Christ is asking Peter, look, feed my lambs. And of course, if the one that's feeding the
lambs, the one that's feeding the sheep is the shepherd, the pastor, the bishop, the elder. Okay.
And so this is the call of Peter, if you will, into the ministry, into the office of a pastor.
And then he continues over to number 16. He saith unto him again the second time,
Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me. He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon son of Jonas,
lovest thou me. Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me.
And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee,
Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. And then he says this, Christ says to Peter,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thy girdest thyself, and walkest
whither thou wouldest. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,
and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. So he speaks about
Peter getting to an old age. I really appreciate you want to look at that. Go back to John chapter
21. I'm not going to cover it all in depth. But then verse number 19 says, This spake is
signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him,
Follow me. Okay. So Christ is just, you know, hammering Peter, feed my sheep, feed my sheep,
feed my lambs, Peter, become a pastor, become a shepherd, you know, be a pastor, that, you know,
and he's saying, look, you're gonna, you're gonna get to an old age and, and this is gonna happen
to you. And then look at Peter's response in verse number 20. Then Peter turned about,
Seeeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following. So he sees John, right? He sees John the other
apostle. He says, which also leaned on his breast at supper and said, Lord, which is he
that betrayeth thee? Peter saith, seeing him safe to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
Okay, Lord, you want me to feed your sheep? You want me to be a pastor? But what's John
gonna do? Like, what's John up to Jesus? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I
come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Peter, it doesn't matter what John's up to.
You know, if I want to live until I come back again, then what is that to you, Peter? I've
given you instruction. You go and feed my sheep. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing.
Brevin, if you know me, you know, that's, that is my heart. Look, I love pastors in America.
I love pastors in Australia. But you know what? I'm not tied down following every step,
every decision that every pastor of every church is doing. I'm following Christ. Christ wants me
to feed my sheep. I will feed my sheep. And you know what? Here's the funny thing. Peter's like,
what about John? Well, John is the elder. John did become the pastor of a church. John did take
on the same office as Peter. But what is that to you, Peter? And Brevin, again, you know what?
I'm not here in competition. I'm not here comparing my church to another church. I hope
we can be a blessing to good God fearing churches. And I hope they can be a blessing in return.
You know, I'm not trying to mold my church to some other church out there or the way another
pastor does things. That's not, what is that to me? And what we're doing here, what is that to
them? We're independent Baptist churches. You need to understand this. And the funny thing is,
there's John, pastor in church, right? He ended up taking the position anyway, right? As the,
as the elder of this church. And Brevin, let me, let me say this. I don't want to offend anybody
here. Because again, I love, don't misunderstand me. I love my pastor friends in the States. I do.
And I pray for them and I want the Lord to bless them. And I pastor friends in Australia. I want
the Lord to bless them. I want God to do great things. But don't tell me, pastor, let's do it
like this church. What is that to thee? You know, if you want to do something, you say, pastor,
we've got some good ideas for the church. Remember what did Christ say? Follow me.
I think this is going to be a blessing to our church. Because according to Christ,
if we do it this way, we can see some results. And you know what, from what I can see with our
church and our people, because every church is different, is it not? Everybody's different.
The dynamics of a church are going to be different based on who's here and who's where and how far
people travel and what hours we can meet and what buildings we meet and what kind of capacity. It's
all going to be different for different churches. And so if you say, pastor, I've got some good
ideas for the church. I want that idea to be tailored to the people of this church,
to the work of this church. Please don't say to me, pastor, let's do this or that,
because the church over there in the States does it like this. But what is that to me?
Like, why should I tailor what we do with another church or another pastor? I thought we're trying
to tailor ourselves to Christ. What does Christ want? And what can we do with the resources,
the availability and the people that we have in our church? So Brevin, I'm not saying let's not
do things like other churches. I mean, they might have a really great idea and we can do that,
but I want to understand how does that help our church? What is the advantage of our church?
Okay, because this is what we're focused on. This is what I'm focused on. I'm focused on the sheep
that we have. And so I just find it interesting that John is there as an elder. And if you can
come quickly with me to say Titus chapter one, Titus chapter one, verse number five.
And, you know, I've said this many times, but the books of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus,
these are the pastoral epistles. Okay, these are written to pastors. And these are the books that
I read over and over. I read all the Bible, but these are, I just, I'm constantly reading these
verses, because I want to make sure I'm doing what God wants me as a pastor. You could even
make an argument that first and second Peter somewhat pastoral epistles. I mean,
it is written to, of course, I mean, all these is written to everybody, don't get me wrong,
but even first Peter, second Peter sometimes addresses things specifically for pastors.
So you could make an argument for that as well. But these are things that I read over and over
again. I want to make sure that what I'm doing is lining up with what God expects from me.
But there in Titus chapter one, verse number five, I just want to show you this. It says
for this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were
wanting and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee. And so it's Titus's job
being left there to appoint elders and say, what are elders? Remember, John spoke of himself as
an elder. It says in verse number six, if any be blameless, the husband of one wife,
having faithful children, not accused of riots or unruly, for a bishop must be blameless as a
steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to feel
feel. So verse number seven says for a bishop must be blameless. The bishop and the elder
are one and the same. Okay, which is the pastor, the overseer. All of these terms
can be used interchangeably. Now come with me to second Corinthians chapter 11.
Come with me to second Corinthians chapter 11. Yes, we are bouncing around. Again,
when we have a chapter that's not very long, we're going to go into a bit of a deeper Bible
study and try to flesh things out as much as we can. But second Corinthians chapter 11,
verse number two. So all I'm doing here, I'm telling you guys, brother Jason Parkin convinced
me and I looked into a little bit more and go, you know what? Yeah, you're right. This is written
to a church. I'm just trying to show you the parallels. So we know that he's an elder and
he's writing to the elect lady and her children. And again, I believe cryptic language is there
on purpose, but I'll reveal that when we get to third John. All right. But look at second
Corinthians 11, verse two. It says, for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy,
for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
You guys know these passages, but you know, you can see how a church has been used, you know,
in a figurative sense as a, as a wife to be, you know, as someone who is to be chaste and,
and without sin and, and it continues there for some free, but I feel less by any means
as a serpent beguiled Eve through subtlety. So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ. For if he cometh preacher for another Jesus, whom we have not preached,
or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received or another gospel,
which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him. And so Paul has been careful about the
Corinthian church. Look, it's too easy. You guys are allowing people to come in with other gospels
and other spirits and other, other Jesuses that are affecting you. And Paul is like, hey,
I want to keep you as a chaste virgin. And so you can see how churches sometimes illustratively
can be referred to as a lady, as a woman, you know, and again, I'm just trying to reinforce
the fact that, you know, I do believe this second John is written to a specific church. I don't know
which church, but some specific church. And you guys know, you're going to turn there, Ephesians
5 25, husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it,
that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle,
or any such thing that it should be holy and without blemish. And so that's my heart for
New Life After the Church. I want it to be, I want our church to be holy and without blemish,
without spots and wrinkles. And you go past, I've got plenty of spots and wrinkles, and so do we
all. So we keep working like this morning. We keep, you know, never give up. We keep trying to
improve and we want to be glorious, right? At Christ's coming, we want him to say, wow,
you know, New Life After the Church, you know, what a chaste virgin. And so that's the heart
of a pastor, by the way, to feed the sheep. If anyone wants to be a pastor, let me, let me,
like, do some, do a self-assessment of yourself. If anyone has this heart, you know,
a shepherd cares for the sheep. I want you to understand. And there are scattered sheep
across Australia. Okay, we can't fix the whole world. Maybe one day you can, I don't know,
if God gives you the ability. But there are scattered sheep all over Australia.
And if you don't have a heart for the scattered sheep, you're not suited to be a pastor.
A shepherd brings sheep together, brings them into a fold, and then wants to feed them, feed them.
Okay, make a self-assessment. Like sometimes people say, I want to be a pastor, but have you
got that heart? Like, do you care about people that are scattered? Because you're gonna have to
bring them in. You're gonna have to bring them together. You're gonna have to put, you know,
organize yourself and, and it requires a lot of sacrifice.
I want, I want to ordain pastors. I want to start churches. But we need to make sure we have the
right shepherds in place. You know, I mean, sometimes, yeah, you know, we can preach sermons
and, you know, yeah, yeah, preach. Look, pastoring is more than just preaching two or three sermons
a week. There's a lot more going on, and a lot behind the scenes that nobody knows.
That goes on. And it is, it is a work. It is, it is tiresome. It does require a lot of hours.
But you know what, I, I have a love for this church. Like, if I was,
my, I feel that my, you know, I'm not trying to make this something about me, but I feel like
the two churches right now for me is, is my limit. Like, to stretch myself even more than that,
I think, I don't know, the Lord has to do something supernatural. Always going to have
to raise men that can, can help me in that ministry. But going back, going back to
Second John, please, Second John. And so if the elect lady is a church, of course,
her children would represent the church members. And another reason why I believe this is a church,
because if you look at verse number 13 of the same chapter, look at verse number 13, it says,
the children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen. You see how that ends? You've got a sister
church. You've got, you've got an elect sister and her kids say hello to you. That sounds a
bit weird if it's just a family, like two sisters. By the way, your nieces are saying hello,
or your nephews are saying hello to you. It's cryptic language. And again, when we get to
Third John, you'll understand why it's cryptic. But the children of thy elect sister greet thee.
So this is like, you know, if I went to Blessed Hope Baptist Church on Thursday,
and I said to them, hey, look, the, you know, the members of Blessed Hope, they all greet you,
they all want to say hello, they send their regards or vice versa or something like that.
That's what's happening. Okay, but again, using this kind of cryptic language to, to show that.
All right, let's go to verse number two. For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us,
and shall be with us forever. So this is the third time that the word truth already,
like in verse number two, chapter, in Second John, it comes up the third time the word truth
comes up. In fact, the word truth appears five times in the first four verses of this chapter.
And so you can see that there's definite, you know, John is trying to address lies and problems
that are within this church. And, you know, don't forget that, of course, the church is the ground,
sorry, is the pillar and the ground of the truth. You know, and I really want our church to always
be focused on the truth. And I always want to make sure that our sermons are built on the truth.
And I always want to make sure that our doctrines are strongly built upon things that are clear and
true and honest. It's really my desire, brethren, to make sure that we are people of the truth.
What we teach is the truth. And we know that by the Holy Spirit of God, which is the spirit truth,
we'll be able to maintain truth in this church. There's a lot of churches that teach lies,
aren't there? Look, I know, I know I'm limited. I know I have the flesh. I know I have personal
biases and things I'm trying to overcome in my life. And I'm sure there are going to be times
that I get behind the pulpit and I say something and you guys are like, that's not quite right,
Pastor. It's probably, you might be right. You know, and to the children, I would say,
if you're dad, you're driving home with mum and dad and dad goes, you know what, what pastor said
at church, you know, tonight or today, whatever. It wasn't quite right. You know, this is the truth.
You know, I'd say to the children, go with dad because he's the authority in your life. Okay.
Go with what dad says, that he's the authority there. But my goal, if we're going to feed the
sheep, it has to be true. Like I often think about like, brother Bruce, you often say this when you
come to church. He goes, I want to come to a church where, you know, there's a well-cooked
steak, right? And potatoes. And you know, it's nourishing food because he's gone to enough
churches where it's like, well, it's just fast food. It's just McDonald's, you know? And it's
okay. I mean, it'll satisfy you, but it doesn't make you feel very good at the end of it. It
doesn't give you the nitrogen vitamins and minerals that you need to be able to do well in
life. You want to make sure that you find yourself in a church that's going to cover up a meal and
feed you great things. And you can walk away and you say, man, I've learned something or,
oh, that's opened my eyes to this passage of scripture. You want to walk away with something
that's going to help you in life. And of course, the only way we can do that in church is by the
spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit of God. And so I'm not interested, you know, to teach my thoughts
to you, though I know sometimes my thoughts get in the way, my ideas to you. I just, my goal is
to just, let's get through God's word. There's enough in God's word to learn, right? We're never
going to get to the end of it in this life. So let's just focus on God's word and teach that
because that's going to be the most nourishing thing. And then verse number three, grace be with
you, mercy and peace. And I love the next phrase, from God the father. And you might say, well,
Jesus is the father. I've got to keep hitting this topic. I'm sorry, guys. From God the father,
and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the father, in truth and love. Of course,
this is a great passage on the Trinity. You know, verse number two, you know, about the
Holy Spirit of God. And then verse number three there, God the father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
the son, the son of the father. Brethren, this is not a minor doctrine. This isn't something that
we can just go, they just believe a little differently to us. Jesus Christ is the son.
He is not the father. He is not the Holy Spirit. Okay. Why do you preach about this all the time,
pastor? Because sadly, like really breaks my heart. And I know it breaks your heart,
brother Michael. You know, the church that we were from before, the church that sent me,
decided to go down this path. You know, this oneness, this modalist idea.
Well, Jesus is father, son and Holy Spirit. What's the big deal? You know, we're just glorifying
Jesus. And he's got the same value as a father. Of course, he's got his co-equaling glory.
Like, I'm not better than my wife. Right? We are of equal value. But you can be of equal value and
still have different roles. Right? I'm the husband. I'm the head of the wife. I'm the
head of the family. And God the father is in charge. He's the head. All right. And the son
submits his will and the Holy Spirit does what the father pleases. There's authority. It doesn't
mean someone's lesser value. That's how people sometimes think. You know, and it's so important
that we understand this. And we've already seen this in 1 John. You know, that's why in 1 John
5.7 he says, for there are three that bear record in heaven, the father, the word and the Holy Ghost
and these three are one. And if you can, come with me to, keep your finger then, come with me to
Psalm 2. Keep your finger then, come with me to Psalm 2. Let me just address a couple of things.
Because when I say to people, Jesus is not the father. People sometimes get, oh, what are you
saying? Jesus is not God? Do you believe in two gods? Do you believe in a lesser God or something
like that? No, Jesus is most definitely God. We all know the prophecy in Isaiah 9 6, for unto us
a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God. Jesus is the Mighty God. He's not below.
He is, there is one God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. But as the son, the son of the father submits
his will, does what the father wants. This is found throughout the scriptures. When you went
for the book of John, you would have seen that again and again and again. Jesus says, I do what
the father, I do the works of the father. You know, I, he goes, the words that I have, I come
from the father. I mean, he's just constantly saying what he does, he does out of obedience
of the father's will. And then we have another position out there that, you know, unfortunately,
my former church believes that Jesus was not the son until the birth in Bethlehem, Bethlehem's
manger, or until he was, you know, in the womb of Mary, let's put it that way. He was not the son.
You know, they don't deny that he existed. Some people deny that, some people, you know,
have strange ideas about who Jesus Christ is, but that he wasn't the son until he was born in
Bethlehem's manger. And the reason I'm going to turn to Psalm 2, I just want to show you this.
I find this so interesting. In Psalm 2, verse number 10, Psalm 2, verse number 10,
this is the Lord giving instructions to the kings of the earth. And remember when the Psalms were
written, so let, we're going back in time. Okay. Psalms, when was, Psalms were written, like,
you know, let's say in David's time, let's say, okay, because David is the main Psalmist.
And so we're going back before Christ, well before his birth. Okay. It says, be wise,
I want you to notice the words, be wise now, therefore, oh ye kings.
So the kings, when this psalm was written, this is for them. I mean, it's for all leaders,
of all authority, of all time, but it is for them there, because it says, be wise now,
therefore, oh ye kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling, kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way,
when his wrath is kindled but little, blessed are all they that put their trust in him. In who?
In the sun. This is back in Psalm 2. Before, well before Christ is born, hundreds of years before
Christ is born, in Bethlehem's manger, the instruction to the kings of the earth now,
back then was, hey, kiss the sun, honour the sun, right? Kiss the sun shows, you know,
it's kind of that, yeah, it's a sign of honour, right? You're like, you're respecting, hey,
kings of the earth, you want things to go well for you, you want to be blessed, you want your
nations to be blessed, you know what? Kiss the sun, lest he be angry. You don't want his wrath,
you want his blessings in your life. And so it's so clear that the son of God,
Jesus Christ, was the son of God before Bethlehem's manger.
And this is the nature of God. God is unchangeable. God has always been father,
son and holy ghost. And you know what, it just blows my mind, like, okay, you say, well,
Jesus became the son, you know, at Bethlehem's manger. Okay, then there was no father then either,
was there? Doesn't a father come to be when the son comes to be at the same time? If there's no
son until the birth, then there was no father until the birth. I mean, start thinking about
how ridiculous this is. God has always been father, son and holy ghost. And I love how
verse number three in second John just confirms that, the son of the father. You know, it's funny
because years ago when I would read through the Bible, I would read that, yeah, okay, how many
times does it say things like this? I'm like, okay, we know that already, we know that already.
Like, you don't think of it as a major issue until someone starts teaching just outright heresy,
another Jesus, right? This is not a church for another Jesus. You know, and, you know,
going back, I love my sin in church. I pray for them and I wanted God to do great things for them,
but once it's another Jesus, brethren, you've got to break fellowship. It's, this is a major
doctrine. Another Jesus does not give you salvation. It's not easy. I think it's easy
to break fellowship with people that you for years have loved and worked together, so-called.
It's not easy, but listen, God comes first. You know, we want to be a people of truth,
don't we? We don't want to mix with lies and heresies and think it's all okay. It's no big
deal. Verse number four. Back to, sorry, back to second John, verse number four.
I rejoice greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth as we have received a commandment
from the Father. Again, the truth. See how many times the word truth comes up in this chapter?
You know, Elder John, right, Pastor John is just excited. He's hearing that the church is growing.
The church is doing well. The church are walking in truth. You know, they're following the
commandments of God and he's rejoicing. He greatly rejoices over that fact and, you know,
again, you want to make me, if you want to make me happy as a pastor,
you know what makes me the happiest is when I see my church members growing in the Lord.
When I see my church members walking in truth, you know, and I see that development and I see
the greater love for God and I see a more holy life and I see a life that's more committed to
the ways of the Lord, that gives me great joy. You know, before I became a pastor,
I had employees, right, and you know what gave me great joy is when I'd see my employees
progress and get promotions. It'd give me great joy. Sometimes my employees would get promoted
into a completely separate department that I'm not over them anymore and people would be like,
oh, but don't you feel bad for losing your employee? I'm like, no, I'm so happy.
Like, I'm so happy that they've done so well. Hey, these are my employees and another manager
in another department has seen the value of my employees and how well they're doing and they're
like, man, we want your people. I just rejoice over that. I think that's wonderful and again,
if I just see the brethren just doing well for the Lord, learning things, growing,
it gives me, that gives me such satisfaction as a pastor. So if you want to give me satisfaction
as a pastor, all right, it's not necessarily a cooked lunch or something like that. It's
doing better for the Lord. Growing in the Lord, that gives me a lot of joy. I tell you that,
you know, and again, you know, if someone in our church, maybe like recently saved,
right, let's pretend recently saved, grows in church,
desires to be a pastor, meets the qualifications, gets sent out and starts a 10,000 member church,
I'm going to be rejoicing at their success. I'm not going to be going, oh, what about me, Lord?
Again, what I like about these things is you can see
Pastor John's heart. And so when I read things like this, I often assess, how's my heart?
Do I line up? How well do I line up with this? How well do you line up? You know,
when you see the successes of other brethren and they do well and they overcome the difficulties,
do you rejoice? I hope you do because that is the right response.
And if that gives me the greatest joy as a pastor, what do you think gives me
the greatest sadness? The complete opposite, right? What gives me the greatest sadness is when,
look, I understand, I accept that not all my church members are going to go from strength
to strength and strength to strength and continue walking the Lord. I'm a realist,
I understand that, but when I see people struggle, you know, quit on church or, you know,
or just follow the word because maybe the zeal was there to serve the Lord, but then they've gone
into the world. It's happened. It happens. That gives me great sadness because I think we were
just on the verge of something great with them. We're not far from them growing and seeing the
value and the blessings of the Lord in their life and then the world's caught up with them,
you know, that the flesh has overcome. Like we saw this morning, the chariots of iron,
they're just too strong, so just give up. It's too difficult in life. That's what gives me,
you know, some of the greatest sadness. And, you know, Galatians 6 and 9 says,
and let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.
If we faint not. Let us not, let's not, let me read it again. Galatians 6 and 9,
and let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.
Reverend, you can do great things for the Lord. Like God can use you in such a way that you never
saw that you could ever do those things, but you can't faint. You've got to keep going.
Keep pushing yourself. Keep growing. Little by little, you know what I say, right? Take one thing
on board. Take another thing on board. Little by little, adjust your life. Fix your life.
Love the Lord more. Do the little things that you pick up in the sermons.
Back to 2 John, verse number 5.
And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee,
but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
You know, another interpretation of 2 John I've heard, and this might have been, I can't say this
was my interpretation. I didn't really have a strong opinion about who this was written to,
but some people have said that they believe John is right to his wife, and the reason there is,
you know, I beseech thee now, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee,
but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another, you know, maybe,
and he's trying to encourage his wife and what have you. I don't see that now that I see the
whole chapter for what it is. I do believe just to remind in his church to love each other,
love the brethren, love the brothers and sisters in the Lord, and how many times do we need to be
reminded of this, though, in the Bible. We have to be reminded of this, and when I see the reminding
happening multiple times, it again tells me that this is something that we can get cold in,
all right. There's a reason why I wanted to change up things a little bit and have a time of
fellowship, a little bit more time together as groups of people, as families, greater numbers,
is because I feel like we need to be able to love one another a little bit more, spend a little bit
more time, show a bit more interest one toward another. We need these opportunities because we
can get through just the routine of things, you know, and forget that people go through struggles
and forget that people have hardships and forget that sometimes someone just needs
a time, like a talk. Sometimes someone just needs a greeting, a brother, you know,
great to see you at church and, you know, I hope you're doing well, been thinking about you this week.
Just a few words of encouragement can change someone's life completely,
and I think I sometimes have undervalued that, you know. I've kind of taken that for granted, but
I realized just how important it is to be together, to be reminded, to love one another,
to serve one another, to think of one another, to pray for one another, and again we see this
constantly in the Bible, constantly, because we forget, we forget, okay, and then verse number
six, and this is love that we walk after his commandments, this is the commandment that as
you have heard from the beginning you should walk in it, okay. So again we're seeing how you can
measure your love, this is a constant theme again, you know, by how much you love, sorry, how much
you keep the commandments, how much you love the Lord, and what kind of love you have is based on
how well you keep the commandments of God. It shows you how much you love the Lord, and also
we saw earlier in first John that loving the Lord, loving the brethren, and being in fellowship,
and keeping the commandments, all of these come together, come together,
and look at verse number seven,
it says, for many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh, this is a deceiver and an antichrist. You go this sounds a lot like
first John, we've heard this multiple times in first John, he's repeating again in second John,
now isn't he? And again if you take yourself back to that time, this would have been a major issue
for the churches of this time. We understand that under the old covenant the people of Israel
were God's people, and yeah those that believed on Christ in the new covenant, they are, they are
part of the new covenant, but many of them they rejected Christ, and to this day the Jews rejects
Christ, and you know these people that confess that Jesus Christ is not come in the flesh,
that Christ is not come in the flesh, it says they're deceivers, they're antichrists,
and look it's, I don't have this, I'm not just trying to have a go at the Jews or the
Jews religion every week, it's just this is what we're up to in the bible, and what do we see
Judaism, which is a religion that denies that the Messiah or Christ is come in the flesh,
it's antichrist, right? It's a deceptive religion, I think most people will accept that,
it's a deceptive religion, but how many believers out there would admit that it's an antichrist
religion? It's exactly what it is, anyone that denies that Jesus Christ is the Messiah is
antichrist, so never, and I don't think this church ever will, but never start to think,
hold on, let's, let's bring a little bit of Judaism into Christianity, you know, messianic,
messianic Jews they call it, right? Jews that have believed, no they haven't believed on Christ,
messianic Jews, you look at anything like that, they're still on the commandments,
they're still trying to be saved by their own righteousness, and many times they'll say, hey,
they'll try to get the gentiles or whatever, right, to be put under the law and do things
in a Jewish manner, in a Jewish way, it's an antichrist religion, that religion
turns you away from Christ to the point where they'll start saying to you, hey,
don't use the name of Jesus, use the name Yeshua, they just want to further you away from Jesus,
name of Jesus, the name of Jesus has been revealed to us in the scriptures as the name of the Son of
God, Yeshua is not found in your scriptures, but they say, hey, we should pray to Yeshua,
stop using the name Jesus, use the name Yeshua, it's an antichrist, they're trying to move you
away, they want you to move away from Christ and to put your trust on Yeshua and his commandments,
I don't even know who that is, because I don't see his name in the Bible,
the New Testament scriptures were written in what, what original language, in Greek,
Yeshua is not in the original writings and we're a King James only church, we have a Bible that's
been translated into English, Yeshua is not the name of the Son of God either, who's this Yeshua,
I have no idea, again, it comes from the Jews religion, trying to mingle that into Christianity,
messianic Judaism, listen, get yourself away from, forget about that stuff,
it's going to mess up your mind, you're going to start believing things that aren't in the
scriptures and they pray on the simple, they pray on the ignorance and like you're going to be
thinking, oh man, of course I want to use Jesus' Hebrew name, why don't you use a name found in
the scriptures, in the word of God, where God himself tells you, this is the name of my son,
it's Jesus, isn't that enough,
but people, they'd rather just believe things that aren't even the scriptures,
they think it's holier, that name is holy, it's not in the Bible
and the way they pronounce things in the Hebrew language, we have no idea if that's even how you
pronounce that name, because the Hebrew language was lost for hundreds of years,
I mean the Hebrew that was spoken in the times of the Old Testament, I'm sure sounded nothing
like the Hebrew that they speak today, so how do you know you even got the name right,
but again, John is warning his church and I've got no hobby horse, I'm not here to just preach
against the Jews, I'm here to preach the Bible and when their religion is clearly what he's
referring to here, I'm going to tell you that's what it is, not anti-Semitic or anything like
that, I want people saved, I want messianic Jews to be saved, I want the orthodox Jews to be saved,
but just as much as I want the Chinese man saved, just as much as I want the Australian man saved,
okay, I am not a respecter of persons, I don't see one race above another race,
if you're without Christ, you're going to hell and everybody needs Jesus Christ, regardless of what
your background is, that is true love, isn't it? Loving people, Christ has given us the command
to go into the uttermost part of the earth, it doesn't matter where we go,
we're here to preach Jesus Christ.
Can you turn with me to, no actually, you know what, yeah, come with me to Acts chapter 20,
come with me to Acts chapter 20, Acts chapter 20 verse 27, we're talking about Christ who is come
in the flesh and another thing I want to speak about here and again it kind of touches on
modalism and oneness is that we teach what we believe and our Bible clearly believes
or teaches that Jesus Christ is 100% man, when he came to this earth he was 100% man
and 100% God and if you can't understand that, look, just believe what the Bible says,
what I'm trying to say is he's not 50% man and 50% God, okay, he's 100% God and 100% man,
all right, and this is important because those that teach that Jesus Christ is the Father and
the Holy Spirit, they often say things like, you know, God cannot die, they'll say something like,
they'll say things that sound smart, that sound biblical, God cannot die
and look, I don't know what it is about this, I mean, I know what it is, people aren't saved
at the end of the day, people aren't saved and they're trying to understand the scriptures,
they're trying to find answers, they're trying to use human logic and reasoning
to understand the nature of God but I think one of the greatest heresies that this oneness
modalism idea leads to is they'll say when Jesus died on the cross, it was the man Christ Jesus
who died on the cross because they say, well, God cannot die, so it was because, you know,
they believe Jesus is the Father, right, that Jesus is the Father, so if Jesus died but he's
not really dead because he's the Father and so that must be the deity didn't die,
the deity side of Jesus did not die but the man side of Jesus died
and it just keeps getting worse and worse and so a man, not God, a man died for me,
oh, that's not the bible, a man cannot die for me, it had to be God,
it had to be God who is perfect and righteous, it had to be a perfect substitute,
where did I get to turn, sorry,
Acts chapter 20, verse number 27, Acts chapter 20, verse number 27,
it says, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God, take heed therefore
unto yourselves and to all the flock, see again, instructions to the pastors, take it, pay attention
over which the Holy Ghost have made you overseers to feed the church of God, look at this,
which he has purchased with his own blood, who has purchased the church with his own blood,
he says to feed the church of God, he's saying the counsel of God, God is he which has purchased
the church with his own blood, when Jesus was on that cross and he bled, it was not just the blood
of man, it was the blood of God, God bled for us, God's body was broken for us, God died for us,
it had to be God, it was God the Son, the Son of the Father Jesus Christ who died,
it's interesting, you know, the Bible, the faith, our faith is so interesting,
you start to muck around just a little bit, you muck around on fundamental doctrines,
just a little bit, just a little wiggle room, what's the difference, not a big, not a big issue,
look are there many secondary and tertiary doctrines where we can have a little bit of
a wiggle room and not see quite high, of course, it's not going to affect things in any larger way
but there are some things that are just so fundamental, so foundational to our faith,
you start to wiggle it, it causes an earthquake and it's a complete destruction, oneness,
modalism, okay, this is a, this is damnable heresy,
it's damnable, believe in this, you've not believed on Christ is what I'm trying to say,
you've believed on another Jesus, messianic Judaism, when they tell you to believe on Yeshua,
that's another Jesus, don't know who that is in fact, but he doesn't even want the name of Jesus,
something else, some other spirit, you move away just a little bit, little bit by little
and you start to notice those little cracks that become major chasms,
major points of separation and all of a sudden, you believe in the most crazy, most ridiculous
things, be careful, you know, churches get infiltrated, you know, and I love, I love our
church because it's not easy to infiltrate this church, it's not easy because so many of you are
solid on the fundamentals but we need to remember to remain solid on the fundamentals and I want
you to be reminded, that's why we have these, these chapters, you know, just a little change
there, it's not a big deal, are you sure, follow it down the line because if it's going to create
major issues on fundamental doctrines, look, it's going to hurt our church, take heed, said Paul to
the pastors, to the elders, take heed, pay attention, listen, okay, teach your church.
Back to 1 John chapter 2 verse number 8,
it says, look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought
but that we receive a full reward, okay, so what I like about this as well again, if he's right
into a church and speaking about this full reward, he says, look, look, be careful church,
don't lose the things that you've worked, right, don't lose the things that you've heard, don't
move away from the doctrines of the faith and, you know, don't start mucking around and making church
something that it ought not to be, you know, maintain the course as a church, it says that
we may receive a full reward and what I like about that is we understand there are going to be some
rewards that are just individual based, what we have done individually for Jesus Christ and those
are the main rewards but there are some rewards that come together as a package as a church
because remember we need to present our church one day ideally as a glorious church, as a chaste
virgin, the Bible says that the elders, pastors have to give an account for the church to Jesus
Christ one day and again I don't know if that's the judgment seat of Christ or some other judgment,
probably is the judgment seat of Christ but at some point, you know, when we all stand
individually before Christ, Christ is going to get the pastors of the churches of his church and say
tell me about the works of your church
and there's going to be extra rewards for all of us for what we've done together as a group,
I think that's wonderful, I think that's amazing, so do we want to stay solid on our doctrines,
do we want to continue doing the works and greater works than what we've done in the past,
of course we can get a full reward as a church together.
Verse number nine, whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ,
hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he of both the Father and the Son.
Okay, so again the doctrine of Christ of Messiah coming into this world, the Jews have not God,
Judaism hath not God, okay, those that believe in Yeshua they have not God, right, he that abideth
in doctrine of Christ have both the Father and the Son and so once again you see this is clearly
not a secondary doctrine, it's not a doctrine that we should just have different opinions on,
we should remain solid on this, okay. Verse number 10, if they come any unto you and bring
not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed.
Okay, so that's why I had to break fellowship with my sending church,
right, they don't have this doctrine that Christ is the Son of the Father,
they have another doctrine, they have another Jesus, like sometimes people have said to me
when I broke fellowship, you know, you overreacted, I have to, where's he following Christ,
what did we see earlier, you know, that this is the church that Christ has given me,
this is my, this is the sheep, you know, I don't pick and choose who I want to be in this church,
I mean if I picked and choose I'll just, at the end of the day you're just going to be yes people
to whatever Pastor Kevin wants and we have to be a mix of people and people come and people go,
but at the end of the day it's Christ who builds the church, you know, I'm not trying to push
people out of church, but also I'm not going to beg people to be in church, you know, I want to
leave that to Jesus Christ, how he wants it to be, you know, and he knows how to build the church,
but if people come with other doctrines, look, we should not receive them into your house,
near the breeding God speed, and look, as you, as you mature in the Lord, you'll start to
understand the differences, we spoke about this a little bit between services, there are people
that have genuine questions and they've been misled and, and confused and it's hard, it can
be hard to break down false beliefs and false ideas and come to the truth, okay, and it could
look like they're pushing back sometimes, maybe they're not genuine, but sometimes you just got
to let it play out a little bit to determine whether someone is genuine or not, and I, I
understand there are people that are just so confused, seeking the truth, they know we have
the truth and they're just trying to reconcile things with, with what they've, what they've
understood, but then there are others that will come and they want to change the doctrines of
this church, they'll come in subtle, suddenly, subtle, suddenly, is that the word, is that a word?
Okay, I'm maybe not pronouncing it right, it doesn't sound right in my head, but they'll come
in all those little conversations here and there, just, just little, little things to make you doubt
and, you know, they'll try to set themselves up as some expert, I know how to lead, I know what to do,
you know, and, and look, before you know it, you allow these people to the church and they'll
destroy, they'll destroy our church, and at the moment, I'm not worried, because I know how solid
you guys are, I don't, like, honestly, I, I really know how solid you guys are on the scriptures and,
and because a lot of you have heard preaching online, preachers, great preachers from the
United States and, you know, have been greatly influenced and praise God for that, that you guys
are solid on, on the scriptures, like, some of you guys have learnt things that took me years and
years to learn, to come to the conclusion, you guys, you know, thanks to the internet and YouTube,
watched the sermon and two, got yourself locked in and I think, man, you guys know that already,
that took me, like, years to figure that out and it's, it's surprising, I know how solid many of
you guys are and so, like, right now, I'm not worried, but hey, we ought to be aware that
people do want to come into churches, bring other doctrines and Christ says, don't receive them into
your house, neither bid him God speed, don't say God bless you because they're not our friends,
they're not our brethren, right, you know, when the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons come to
your door, they don't believe that Jesus is God, so don't, don't say God bless you, all right, like,
sometimes I don't even open the door, like, sometimes we know it's JW's, they've come to the
house and we're like, just let them stand there, like, I don't mind the house, they can hear the
kids in the house, I'm just, I'm not even interested in talking, I don't feel like talking
to them right now, but sometimes I do and sometimes, you know, you, you just, you feel compassion,
like, you know, they've been misled, you know, they're on their way to hell and you go out,
I'll give them a chance to give them the gospel, but they're not interested in hearing the gospel,
you know, as soon as you start giving the gospel, they're gone, but it's kind of like us, when we
go and we go and preach the gospel door to door, we have our purpose, we're there to give them the
gospel, when someone tries to give us a false gospel, it's time for you to leave, they're not
interested in hearing the truth, okay, but hey, don't say God bless you to people that have these
damnable heresies that are trying to teach you and your church and other people damnable heresies,
you know, Muslims don't believe that Jesus Christ is God, they don't believe even in the Son of God
and there are so many religions like this and then the warning there is in verse 11,
for he that bit of him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds,
think about that, JW comes to your house, all right, not interested, not interested,
God bless you, see you later, if you say that, you're basically saying, look, God's on your side,
God's with you, you're doing a great work, well you're partaking, God's going to hold you
accountable, I mean, you'll never preach a false gospel, but by saying God bless you,
God be with you, to them, you are, you're helping them along, you're encouraging them,
right, to preach false, falsehoods and so again, you know, we're just being warned about this
because, you know, as believers, we do have an open heart, we want to see people saved,
right, I mean, we care for the lost because Christ cared for the lost, he died for them,
but look, you can't, you can't help everybody, there's a time for you to go, you know what,
you're just so misguided, see you later, I want nothing to do with you,
right, and pray that God would stop them in their tracks.
Verse number 12, having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink,
but I trust to come unto you and speak face to face that our joy may be full, so notice that,
this is, he's writing this letter, he goes, look, I want to go and see you, I want to see you
face to face, there are things that I want to write to you, but not with paper and ink,
I want to see you and I want to talk to you and what I love about it is that our joy may be full,
remember, being in church brings fullness of joy, look, I'm thankful for our online ministry,
I'm thankful for our online listeners, so I want our online listeners to get the wrong
idea, I know you guys are in a hard place, you're trying to make the best of what you have,
and we want to be a blessing to you guys, you know, with the services and I want you to get
great truth, but at the end of the day, you guys need to find yourself in church,
you know, I hope you can find a great church in your area, or just come here,
come here if you can, you know, we'd love to have you, we'd love to have you,
come and visit us, you know, but being together in church brings fullness of joy,
and you know, as much as online listening services can bring some level of joy,
but it's not going to be fullness of joy, being in church is something different,
being amongst the brethren is something different, because I just want to see,
I want to speak face to face with you, and so church is a priority for John,
and brethren, I know like, my church, you guys, I know you love me as your pastor,
and some of you guys have said to me, pastor, maybe you need to limit how much you go to Sydney,
like look out for yourself, look for your health, look out for your family,
and you know, they've got it covered, but again, I'm a pastor, I've got that heart,
I've got John's heart, John's like, look, yeah, it's great that I've written to you,
but it's much better that we see each other face to face,
and look, you want to be a pastor one day, this is what it's going to take,
I'm going to start 10 churches all across Australia, you better be willing to give
time to these people, get them together, you're going to burn people, you're going to hurt people,
you know, if you're not there, if it's just you trying to build your kingdom,
you trying to have some title, some level of authority, you trying to show off what
you've ever accomplished, it's going to burn people, it's going to hurt people,
you've got to have the heart of a pastor, say look, I need to see you face to face,
that our joy may be full, then verse number 13, the children of thy elect sister,
greet thee, Amen. This is like me writing a letter, you know, we don't have internet technology
in these days, things like that, me writing a letter to bless it up at this church,
I've not seen them for months, all right, and I'm like, look, I can't wait to see you,
I've got so much more things that we need to talk about, so many more things that we need to teach,
but right now I'm at New Life Baptist Church, but the children of thy elect sister,
you know, New Life Baptist Church members, they greet you, they love you, they're thinking about
you guys, they're praying about you guys, I thank God we live in a time where we can pick up a phone,
we can FaceTime, we can just jump on a plane and be there in an hour, be there in two hours,
you know, we should use, you know, the technology, we should use the time that we're in
to reach people as much as we can, but I want to show you the pastor's heart, the elder's heart,
and I have that heart, I know it, it breaks my heart actually, you know,
like scattered sheep, it breaks my heart,
you know, like why do, why do soul winning in Melbourne, why do soul winning in WA,
like there's so many people, huh,
they just want a good church, just want to hear the truth of God's word,
and
we're a small church, but we can do a lot, you know, we can reach so many people,
and, but I need your help too, you know, there's a lot to do, and I thank you for everyone that
serves in our church, everyone that gives and prays and thinks about everything that's required,
there's a lot of people out there, brethren, you know, I hear from them,
and they're desperate for church, desperate for fellowship, desperate to see people face to face,
you know, I'll just say this again, soul winning marathon's in another state,
it's not about the soul winning, it really isn't, it's about the brethren there,
that's the priority, encourage them, you say, but look, don't get me wrong, it is about soul
winning, but that's not the main thing, it is about soul winning, if we encourage them,
and we teach them how to go soul winning, there's more soul winning being done in another place,
we get out of the church, blessed up at this church, look, we've got brethren coming together,
going soul winning every week, you know, I know it's wear and tear in my body, I know that,
but this body's going to perish anyway, who cares, I'd rather use it for the service of the Lord,
you know, to teach people great truths, you know, requires great sacrifice,
and we need more pastors, you know, if you're someone that has a desire, think about it,
it's a great work to achieve, you know, but you need to work on your heart, you know,
it's not just get up, free sermons, I'm done, I can do that pastor, I can go and start a church,
boy, it's a lot, you know, you have to be the glue of bringing people together,
you've got to love the lost sheep, okay, you're not trying to impress pastor so and so,
and church so and so over there, what is that to you, you feed the sheep that God has given you,
you got to get out there and teach them great truths of your word, you've got to put the study
in the scriptures, you want to feed people the truth, you're going to take phone calls and
questions, people that are hurting and you don't even know what to do, say brother,
I don't know what to do, I just got to pray for you, I have no idea, there's so much involved,
so much more than I realised, that's why it's hard for me to criticise other pastors,
because they're probably carrying so much things that I don't even know,
oh, but they're not like us in this doctrine, not like that, look, are they right on the majors,
are they right on the gospel, are they right on the King James Bible,
are they for soul winning, I mean that's already a great start,
just encourage that man, encourage that church, bless that church,
I've lost track of what I was trying to say, the title of the sermon was for the truth's sake,
it is for the truth's sake, everything that we do is for the truth, Christ is the truth,
the spirit of truth, the word of truth, we're trying to get the truth out to this world
and look, maybe we won't reach Asia, I don't know if the Lord wills, maybe we can,
but look, Australia's a big country and people are spread all over this place,
people leaving regional towns with bad churches, they're all over the place,
Reverend, let's try to be a support as much as we can to the lost sheep, all right, let's pray.