A. SERMON SLIDES
Slide 1:
Introduction to 2 John
Truth and Love
Slide 2:
2 John 1–3 (ESV)
The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.
Slide 3:
Author and Date
Slide 4:
Destination/Recipients
a) An actual female individual
b) A house church
Slide 5:
Purpose of the Letter
Slide 6:
“Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness. Love may forgive all infirmities and love still in spite of them. But love cannot cease to will their removal.
C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
Slide 7:
THE PRIMACY OF TRUTH
Slide 8:
Truth and Love cannot be separated, but the foundation of the church must be built upon Truth
Slide 9:
John 18:37–38 (ESV)
Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?”
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
Slide 10:
God is the God of Truth (Deuteronomy 32:4)
Christ is the Truth and He us full of Truth (John 1:14, 14:6)
The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of Truth” (John 14:7)
The Bible is the “Book of Truth” (Daniel 10:21)
Slide 11:
The defining characteristic of Satan is not that he is unloving, but that he is a liar and deceiver and has no truth in him. (John 8:44)
Slide 12:
The divine indictment over lost humanity is that “they exchanged the Truth. about God for a lie.” (Romans 1:25)
Slide 13:
1 Timothy 3:15 (ESV)
if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
Slide 14:
When the church abandons Truth it abandons being a true Church of Christ, no matter how loving it may be.
Slide 15:
“The aim of God in history is the creation of a community of loving persons, with Himself included in that community as its prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant.”
“Love is not an easy thing, maybe the work of a lifetime to live as if we have been loved.”
Dallas Willard
Slide 16:
Where is the battleground of Truth?
B. GROUP DISCUSSION
Please read 2 John 1-3. It is clear from the beginning that John (the Apostle of love) wants to link love inseparably with truth. Does this feel normal for our culture, and even in our own lives?
What are the implications of having truth define love, and the implications of the other way around?
Do you think truth can be unloving? And in what ways have you seen that be true?
Of the two possibilities, which one has been true for you:
1) The world’s view of love is so absent of truth (accountability/admitting sin/challenging untruth, etc) that truth seems unloving
2) The church’s view of truth isn’t serious/deep enough to be unconditionally loving.
What are other reasons people may say that the “church is not loving”When Satan attacks truth (which is his main goal) he is also attacking love. How do we see that in our culture?
How can we see both Truth and Love at the center of the cross, and therefore at the center of our own salvation?
Prayer and praise