Postcards

That's that that's all over the bible.

Or or if you take the picture of, the lord god being the great shepherd, the shepherd of his people. He shepherds his people. He leads his people through all kinds of terrain and dangers and, difficulties. And he he leads them through those places to his, his house where there's the banqueting table. It's those those pictures are are are clear in the old testament.

If you go into the new testament, you've got Paul talking about, fighting a good fight, but it's also sort of running the race. We're going somewhere. We're racing. We're moving towards the finishing line. Now there there are definitely images of standing firm, obviously, in the battle.

You know, you ought to stand firm. There's images of being led to still waters where we can drink and refresh ourselves, but they're just that. They're refreshments, really, so that we can carry on with the journey. Those being still, that is is is is actually never to be permanent. So we gotta get that's the Christian life.

That's how it's imaged, and it's a very good image. It's not I become a Christian, and that's it. It's it's it's it's not it's never like that. I just sort of sit still and then die. It's not that sort of thing.

The Christian Life is never, ever described as me sort of like watching TV, and I might watch the TV evangelist and he might say some good things for me to be interested in, and he might encourage me in some ways. And then it's over, and I carry on sitting, and I turn on the latest TV drama and watch another murder. It's it's It's never ever put like that. It's not passive. It's not I've become a Christian, and that's it.

It's active. It's progressive. It's growing. It's moving. It's heading towards somewhere.

And that's why 1 of the greatest books ever written based on the bible by a bloke called, John Bunion, it's called pilgrims progress. It's just a fantastic book, and it's got Christianity right. It's progressing. It's walking. From the city of destruction, pushing on through vanity fair, pushing on moving to, the beautiful city heaven itself.

And it's good. And John here, not John, this isn't John Bunnion. This is John, I'll tell you who he is in a minute. In this little postcard, we're looking at these little single chapter letters that we're calling postcards. John, in this little postcard, it his the image he uses is walking.

And walkie is such a good picture of the Christian life, steady, sure, movement, not lazy, not sitting down, moving towards the finishing line. And, you see it, look at verse 4. He talks about your children walking in the truth. Look at verse 6. We see we walk in obedience.

And then again in verse 6, we walk in love. They're the 3 things I just wanna pick up. Walking, walking in truth, walking in love, walking in obedience. But before we get there, let's let's just get to the introduction. See it verse 1, the elder.

To the lady chosen by god and to her children whom I love in the truth, the elder. The elder is John. This is John. This is the disciple, John, and, he was, you know, with the 12 disciples, and now he's set apart to be an apostle. And by this time in writing this little postcard, he's the only surviving apostle.

Everyone had out had been killed. So he's the only surviving 1. He's the only 1 that sort of died a natural death out of all the apostles. And so here he is the only surviving 1, and he is elderly. And maybe that's why he's talking about walking and not running because he can't because he's actually elderly.

He's probably an elder of a church, but he's elderly, and he calls himself the elder. Because he's really no 1 older than him. And then he writes to this this here, look, to the lady chosen by god. Now that little sentence, believe it or not, gets people really worked up. Because who is that lady?

And there's lots of questions about this. And they're quite interesting. I was gonna leave this out, but I quite I quite enjoy this sort of stuff. There's loads of theory that who who this is. So some people think because it mentions, that John had met some of her children.

Some people think that this was a a woman that had, been into, you know, helping orphans out. Or more likely, because the Romans had this policy that we didn't want, baby girls. When a baby girl was born, they would dump them. And the Christians, the early Christians would go and rescue those baby girls, and love them and bring them up. And it's 1 of the ways why the church grew so quickly because of that sort of stuff.

So some people think, oh, yeah. She was she was devoted to caring for orphans. She was looking after dumped baby girls and and brought them up. And that that's that could be right because that's what that's what Christians were doing, in the first century. Other people say, oh, you wanna look at the Greek.

Yeah? And the word chosen there is actually a proper name. It's elect elector. So this is a woman called elector, Lady elector. What a name?

I mean, why do we call our kids this? Alector. That's that's the name. If you're looking for a a name, Lady elector, then other people say, ah, but the word lady is a proper name. If you translate it from Greek to aramaic.

Right? Now, aramaic was the language that Jesus spoke, And Lady in Arameik is Martha. And Martha that people think that they could be talking about is the sister of Mary the sister of lazarus. Do you know the story? Lazarus died.

Jesus raised him from the dead. That's the sister. Now others then say, oh, no. This is not an individual. The chosen lady is the whole church.

Right? Now do you don't wanna do you wanna know what I believe after doing a lot of investigation on this? No? Okay. Fine.

I'll move on then. Do you wanna know or not? Yes. Yeah. I think it's alright.

I I can't see why it would wouldn't be alright. Paul wrote to a personal letter to Timothy and to Titus, and we saw last week. He wrote a personal letter to philemon, but it was for the whole church. Why can't he write a letter to a lady? Why can't it be Martha, but it's to the whole church?

So whatever, whatever it is. Here's a lady, obviously influential, extremely helpful in the church. She's certainly generous She's always offering Christian's hospitality. We'll get to that in a minute. And her info the influence of this this godly woman was widespread.

And John, in verse 4, had obviously met some of her children, and he was overjoyed about meeting them, and this prompted the postcard. So let's get into the meat of it then. First of all, then that first walk, walk in the truth. Now truth is such a big deal to John. You read any of his letters the gospel of John, 1 John, 2, john 3, John, revelation.

Truth is such a big deal to him. And right at the beginning of this postcard, we've got truth. Look at verses 1 and 2. To the lady chosen, maybe Martha, to the lady chosen by god and to her children, whom I love in the truth. And not only, not I only, but also all who know the truth.

Because of the truth, which lives in us and will be for us, with us forever. So John loves her in the truth, and all those who know the truth. And because the truth lives in us and will be in us forever. Then look at verse 3. Grace mercy and peace from god, our father, and from Jesus Christ, the father's son, will be with us in truth and love.

And then look at verse 4. It, it has, it has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth. Walking in the truth. Now, you put all that together and you'll notice that there's there's a real, alive, active belief in the truth here. It's it's life changing.

It brings joy. There's an excitement even to an old man called an elder about the truth, where he's in the truth, know the truth. The truth lives in us. Truth is is with us. We walk in the truth.

He's banging it in and it's so alive, and there's great joy when you know others in the truth, and you meet others in the truth. And there's great love for others in the truth. And it's so alive and it's so personal. And and yet it it brings others together. It's personal, but corporate.

It he's excited by the truth. Now John, you have to remember was there when Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life. John was there when Jesus said that amazing statement. Jesus is all about life, and life is all about Jesus. Jesus doesn't point to the truth.

He doesn't just say true things. Jesus is the truth, and becoming a follower of Jesus, becoming a real Christian is to submit yourself to Jesus as the truth, is to walk his way that he is the truth. You're not the truth. Jesus is the truth. It's to trust him.

It's to have him in you. A Christian really is saying, rule me, lord of truth. It's saying, break into my hard heart, lord of truth, expel the lies in me and around me that possess me sometimes. Expel the lies, lord of truth. That's a Christian.

Christianity is not built on uncertainties. It's not built on doubt but convictions and certainty. The truth of god revealed supremely in the living word, Jesus, the word, in the living word. And recorded unerringly in the written word, the scriptures. That's the root we need to travel.

That's the way from earth to heaven, the truth. Now, of course today, we're committed to the false humility. Sounds humble, but it's rubbish. We're committed to the false humility where we start sentences like, I think, and some people say, and others believe, and it seems to me. Yeah.

And anyone who claims truth today is is really considered a bit of an arrogant fool. Isn't that right? Anna, myself a few weeks ago, went to Glastonbury Town, not the not the festival. I have been to the festival. I'd never been to the town before.

Glassastonbury Town. I always wanted to go because there's quite a lot of evidence that Christianity started there very, very early on. In in England, when it came to when it came to to Britain, it first started there because Glasgowbury used to be actually on the coast. So the the the the the Bristol channel came right up to glastonbury. And and there's there's a lot of very, very good evidence.

So I've I've always wanted to go, and I'd never been. I always wanted to go up the glastonbury tour if you know the it's a big sort of Hill thing. It's an amazing thing. And, so we we, we were down that way, and we thought, oh, we'd spend a couple of days there. Now, if you've ever been to Glastonbury Town, it's quite funny.

It's really a theme park for adults who wanna dress up as witches and wizards. I mean, it's it's just amazing. People walking around with great big sticks and, you know, you can see the person going, you shall not purse. There was a bloke dressed up all in white sort of pretending to be a Jesus, all in white, and sort of begging because he had to sleep on the street, but he can't be sleeping on the street because the white was immaculately white. Someone's washing it somewhere.

Anyway, There's this theme park called Glastonbury Town. And we stayed there and we we we went around and and in the sort of guest house thing we were staying in, I came down for breakfast and, and there was a big German bloke there in a in a kilt. And I said, what were you wearing a kilt for, mate? And I thought, what's the stuff? I'd never met this boy before, and it just came out.

And he said, oh, I like the kilt. Yeah, and then he started telling me stuff that I don't need to tell you. And then he said, have you been to Glassdenbury before? And I said, no. I I've always wanted to be of great vibe here.

Real vibe. You all get the vibe. You know, you wanna get you wanna get what you wanna do is get the vibe I said, well, yeah, I can't find it. Wow. Well, I I said, what is the vibe?

Or spiritual? I said, what I was really interested in that. So what what do you think it is? Is it is it god? And then it went quiet, and he sort of slightly changed the subject.

So I don't know what the vibe was. What we did as we looked around Glastonbury, I I no. I'm it was only our our observations. We saw nothing that claimed to be true. The word true and truth, I I couldn't see.

There were legends and myths and spiritual mystics. There were witches and people with divine power and secrets. But there was nothing that claimed to be true. It's quite interesting. As at least as far as I could see.

It felt like the word true and truth was a bit of a dirty word or a bit, you know, it's just unblight to sort of use it. I mean, in this discussion with this German bloke in the kilt, he started talking about Keltz, and I happen to be reading sort of, stuff on this. And he'd got a lot wrong. And I and I I started saying, actually, that's that's not that's not true, and it really didn't go down well. So truth and true, that doesn't really didn't really matter.

It was the myth that counted. So very interesting. I didn't even we didn't even see things like this is my truth. What's your truth? The the word truth seemed to be absent in all the adverts, and there is tons of them for all the spiritual things going on.

And yet, when I walked into the psychic fair in the town hall, with really out without asking whether anyone's trustworthy or true, people were committing their money to courses and stones and emulates and blessings. Very interesting. And even the history of the place is now covered up with myths. Look at this extraordinary phrase here in verse 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. There's the experience. There's the vibe. There's the spiritual. You you will experience none other than the grace and peace, which is what a lot of people there are looking for.

Grace and peace in the truth. Not just that. In the truth and love. 1 old preacher said this. Keep the truth and the truth will keep you.

I know that's a circular thing, but it it it's it's it's good if you think about it. Keep the truth and the truth will keep you. If you don't keep the truth, then you'll be out of truth. And I think that's a disaster. 1 of the books I was reading when I was there in in, in Glastonbury is is just a classic, novel, the water ship down.

Is anyone read water ship down? Yep. It's a beautiful book, isn't it? And it's about rabbits. It's just a fantastic book.

And it's about rabbits, and it it's very similar to, in in some ways. In fact, he he the the writer quotes John Bunion. It it it it it to Pogo's progress, So the rabbits are in a warren, and that warren is going to be destroyed by, building works. Ma mankind is gonna destroy it. And there's a rabbit that foresees the future.

It's a it's a profit rabbit and it knows it's gonna so they have to run from the city of destruction or the the war the warren of destruction to go to make their own, you know, good, warren somewhere, and they have to go on this journey. And 1 of the things that is exceptional about the book, and it just blew me away, because you don't quite get it in the little film, which is brilliant. The thing about the book is that rabbits sort of become rabbits and are sustained as rabbits by old stories. The stories of the creation of the rabbit and the story of what a rabbit is and what rabbits get up to in the past, those old stories inform the rabbits how to be a rabbit. Right?

And it just really struck me. It's the story that keeps the rabbits as rabbits. Now while I'm telling you all this, on the way, Hazel, who's 1 of the, you know, big rabbits, and leader rabbits, leads them from the city of destruction, the the the the warren that's gonna be smashed up. And on the way, they come to a nameless warren with other rabbits in. And there's something very strange about this warren.

They're rabbits, but they're like they're not rabbits. They're very healthy and big, but they're very placid and can't fight and can't really run. And they're not really rabbits and Hazel and his lot that, escaping from the city of destruction, can't work out these roads. They're very odd. And then you find out that this warren has no enemies.

There's no foxes in the area. And they're fed, right, lots of carrots as much as they like, and lots of cabbages as much as they like. And you find out that there's a farmer over the rabbit warren feeding the rabbits. But these rabbits hate the stories. They hate the stories about rabbits being cunning and can run fast, and should be scared of farmers.

They hate those stories. They they they think they're quaint at best and a bit evil, really, bit nasty. And what you've got here is sort of comfortably living rabbit but they're comfortably numb if you're gonna use a Pink Floyd thing. There's comfortably numb there. They're they're not real rabbits because they haven't had the word, the truth.

Telling them what they are. Do you get do you get what I'm saying here? No. I was blown away by that, and I really, really love the book, for lots of reasons, and that's 1 of them. Because actually storytelling is what we're doing right now.

The Bible is god's truth. And as we hear the truth, it makes us. It creates us. It makes us into the rabbit that we should be. Into the humans we should be.

Close your ears to that. You may be comfortable, but you'll be comfortably numb. And the farmer, every now and then, or every few weeks, snares a few rabbits and takes them off to his dinner table, and no 1 talks about it. There's no story about it. Keep quiet about death.

Don't say anything. So keep the truth and the truth will keep you. It will make you. It will create you. Jesus said this in John chapter 8, and John would have heard this.

If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciple, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. So under this first point, do you love the truth? Do you love hearing the story? Do you love it recreating you and remaking you into the human that you should be? Is there a joy in seeing others in the truth of being remade?

When this elderly man met some of the children of this lady elector, he was overjoyed. It says he was joyful. It's 1 of the good things about becoming old. There's quite a few of them, but 1 of them is seeing the children and even the children of the children sometimes, coming to know the lord of people that you led to the lord. And John's over the moon about truth.

It's not some cold academic religion, It makes the warren. It makes the church. So walk in truth. Second 1. Walk in love.

Now as we saw with truth, love is a big deal to John. He's called the gospel of love. The the the apostle of love. Look at verse 1, whom I love in the truth, look at verse 3 again. Grace mercy peace from god, the father, and from Jesus Christ, the father's son will be with us in truth and love.

Look at verses 5 to 6. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new commandment, but 1 that we had from the beginning. Where was the beginning? It's when Jesus said, I'm giving you a new commandment. I ask that We love 1 another, 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. Do you see how circular all this is? It all sort of goes round and round, but walk in love. Love those in the truth. Know the love of god, the father, and Jesus Christ.

Love 1 another. Walk in obedience. That's love. Now where does his love for this lady spring from? I mean, what what binds Christians together in love?

Well, again, it's back to the truth. The the truth is the fountain of love. Now, again, we've gotta get that because we get the impression that if you downplay truth, you'll get more love. That's the world we're in, but it's the exact opposite You increase the truth, and you'll have more love. That's how it's meant to be.

So we're drawn to each other in love because we have the truth. And we've gotta get that. This is what Christianity is. We're not drawn to each other. Because we're nice people.

Some of us aren't that nice. We're not drawn to each other because we come from the same backgrounds. We're not drawn to each other. We don't love each other because we're from the same social class. Or we have the same ethnic group.

We're from the same ethnic group or the from the same country, or we love the same political parties, or we have the same desire for food, and we like the same musical films or stuff like that, or we have the same temperament. We're drawn together because we're in the truth. The truth that's Jesus makes us love. It said this. The bond someone said this.

The bond of love is forged on the anvil of truth. Right? There's some old pictures there. You may not understand, but it's forged on the anvil of truth. The bond of love.

So love and truth, a marriage is never divorced them. Thing that binds us together is truth. That is the lord Jesus Christ. And because we know him, We're excited about fellowship. And because we know him, we're excited about serving others.

And because we know him, we're captivated by the truth Our hearts are warmed. We're we're thrilled. We're transformed. There's 1 hope that we have together. That's the truth.

Our destiny is in the truth. We love those in the truth. John Stock, a preacher from the last century said, love grows soft, if not strengthened by truth, truth grows hard, if not softened by love. Truth and love go together. In John chapter 13, again, the writer John would have would have heard this, so I think he wrote it down, john 13 where Jesus is washing the feet of these disciples.

You know that, that story. Jesus says a new commandment I give you, love 1 another. How? As I have loved you, what? What's he doing?

He's washing their feet. What's he gonna do? He's gonna go to the cross. That's how much he loves people. A new commandment I give you, love 1 another, as I have loved you, so you must love 1 another.

By this, everyone will know that you're my disciples if you have love for 1 another. It's a massive testimony to the world that confuses truth and doesn't understand love. We love 1 another like Christ loves us. Walk in love, walk like Christ, wash people's feet, serve 1 another. Look at verse 6 of our little postcard, 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. You see the circular rock disc thing going on there? So love and truth are inseparable, but love truth and obedience is now added on. And that's inseparable. Truth springs out love and expresses itself in obedience to the truth.

It goes round and round. 4 times. He says the word, word truth. 4 times he says the word love. 4 times he says the word command.

So let's move on to the third 1 then. Walk in obedience because they all sort of go together. Walk in truth, walk in love, walk in obedience. Look at first 5 again. And now dear lady, I am could be Martha.

I am why wouldn't it be? And now dear lady, I'm not writing you a new command. See, isn't new now? It was new when Jesus gave it. I'm not writing you a new command, but 1 we have had from the beginning.

I ask that we love 1 another. Notice what he's not saying. He's not saying, wait until you have the feeling of love, and then you might do something. He's not saying fall in love. Will you fall will you sort of try and will you try and fall in love with other Christians?

He's addressing her will. He's talking about obedience. He tells her that love is something a Christian must do. It's not a feeling. And this is this is the distinctive of the new testament love.

Remember he said that when he was washing when Jesus said that when he was washing the feet, he's doing something. It's not just a feeling. It's, oh, I really love you lot. I'm gonna miss you, you know, when I go away. So Christian Fellowship is is never to be taken for granted.

It's to be worked at. We're to obey the commandments. We're to work at loving each other. And the more diverse we get, the more we gotta work at that. You know, because there are cultures that rub each other up the wrong way, ain't there?

There are some cultures here, you know, loud and noisy, and there's some as submissive and gentle. I've seen this. You get the loud noisy 1 comes in, and and then the submissive gentle 1, It's like, what is going on. And there's these culture clashes where we gotta work at love. We gotta work be we gotta be beyond our cultures.

We gotta be in the truth. Are we in Jesus? And we gotta work at that so that we love each other because we're we're different personalities and different people groups. There's a command to love. It's not just waiting to love.

It's a command. It's active. It's not passive. Is not sitting watching the TV. It's up and walking, walk in obedience to the command, to love.

It's not just feeling. That's the problem with the modern definition of love. It's feeling, isn't it? It's how I feel. It's all about me.

It turns into me. That's the horror of our age today. It's always all about me. And that is always gonna be divisive and destructive and kill. That he's always going to make you a non rabbit rabbit sitting there hoping someone else gets snared and not you and never talking about the snare, just looking forward to your own big fat carrier, and a bit of cabbage chucked at you.

See, that's a non human. That's a non rabbit. Not hearing the stories of Jesus Christ, laying his life down for us washing the feet. Those stories are the things that create us and make us obedient to the truth. And therefore they make us obedient to love.

Love is sacrificial. To walk in love is never to walk alone. You can't walk alone in love because love, you need a beloved. And that leads me onto my fourth point. We've got walk in truth, walk in love, walk in obedience, fourthly, don't walk with a deceiver.

Don't walk with a deceiver. And this is, in many ways, what he's really getting to. Walk in truth, walk in love, walking obedience, and then he gives the reason why. You see it? Look.

Walking truth, love obedience verse 7. Walking truth, love obedience. I say this because Many deceivers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh have gone out into the world, such a person is a deceiver and an Antichrist. Don't walk with them. I'm telling you to walk in love and truth and obedience because there are many deceivers.

There are people out there to tell you untruths. There are people out there to deceive you. There are people out there to lob carrots and cabbages at you and get rid of the foxes so that you are comfortably numb, but you will be snared and eaten. Don't walk with them. In fact, look what he says in verse 10 and 11.

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, the teaching, the the the gospel teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work. So there are deceivers and false teachers and antichrist people going around. Don't walk with them. There are many, many of them.

Don't walk with them. Have nothing to do with them. Don't entertain them. Don't bring them into your house. They are deceivers and Antichrist.

The the the root word that he uses for deceiver there is to lead a stray is to cause to wander. He uses it in in his first little letter as well a lot. So to lead a stray to cause to wonder. If you walk with them, you'll be led astray. If you entertain them, you'll be led astray.

And then he says they're Antichrist, which are radically opposed to Jesus Christ, they're Antichrist. Yeah. Well, how do you get to the position of Antichrist? Walk with them. Walk with them, and it won't be long before you're Antichrist.

So don't walk with them. The chief thing about them is that they actually don't submit to the truth, which is Jesus. Look at verse 7, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh, Now I think that's a just a summary of the whole Jesus of who Jesus is. I think it's just a summary. It's not just the incarnation he's talking about there, the doctrine of the incarnation.

I think he's talking about Jesus. Now I want you to notice what he doesn't say. He doesn't say that these false teachers, these deceivers, these Antichrists deny that Jesus came in the flesh. He doesn't say they deny it. That's his point, I think.

If so if someone stands up here, if I stood up here and say, I just wanna tell you that Jesus didn't come in the flesh, the incarnation is a load of rubbish. It's a sort of, you know, thundering trick or something. It was something silly. He didn't rise from the dead. It's all a lot non but we love Jesus anyway.

If I said that, I think I hope everyone in the room would either smash my head in or just laugh or think, what's he doing? Has he gone mental? Or go. That's pretty obvious. Yeah.

But I think what it is that is what these teachers do. It's not it's not someone who who outwardly denies it, but they just never talk about it. They never really talk about Jesus. They may see his name every now and then, but they never really talk about him. They never get to submitting to his word.

They're not obedient. They don't love people in the truth. In fact, they walk away from people in the truth. So we've gotta be careful. Don't always listen to what people say.

Listen to what they don't say. And that may take some time. You may hear need to hear quite a few things. Listen to what they don't say. Listen to what they don't emphasize.

Look look at look what he says in verse 7. He says they've gone they've gone out into the world. Now the word world there is cosmos, and when John uses that word world, he normally means the organized opposition against god. They've gone out into the organized opposition against god. They've moved from truth.

And in 1 John, you see, they've moved from the church even. They don't belong to a local church. They walked out on church. For whatever reason, and they've walked they and what John says no. You've not just walked out on church.

You've walked out into the world. These people can't exist in a truth environment. They don't like it, and they hate faithful churches. And if you listen carefully, It's the world's ideas they're quoting. If you listen carefully, it may be wrapped up religiously, but if you listen carefully, it's the world's vision they are seeking, not Christ.

It's all about me centered. You'll hear this. I don't come to church because I couldn't use my gift. It's a constant thing. You'll hear this.

This is 1 of the big things you hear all the time. It's all I I'm I'm I'm upset with church because I'm this type of person and I wasn't allowed to use my gift or whatever. And then they exaggerate stuff. It's all about me. And they move from church.

Look at verse 8. Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully Anyone look what happens? Anyone who runs ahead. Remember, we're walking in truth. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue walking in the teaching of Christ does not have god Whoever continues in the teaching, continue walking, has both father and son.

They run ahead. They don't continue. They always have to go further. The word actually, is transgress. They go over the border.

They go over. They go too far. They run ahead. Force teachers, if you hear them, are always saying things like we're ahead of you. We've just gone further than you.

We've gone deeper than you. It's always stuff like that. We've left you behind. We used to be like that. We've grown up that what they they always make you who are sustaining and remaining in Christ and walking in truth, love, and obedience, they always make it that you're out of date.

But we're in modern times now. Things change. We need to change the word of god, don't we? We're gonna attract people. You dated people.

Just sticking to the Bible. Come on. We need to run ahead, move out of this. You're dated. You don't understand.

You're boring. You're old fashioned. This this can't mean that today. The cult of the new is as old as Satan, new understanding, new new experience, new way of looking at things. He's blunt.

He says they don't have god. But if you continue, you have both the father and the son. Amazing. So Christian truth, love, and obedience. A false teacher moves from truth and then doesn't have love.

Now we live in a world of deceivers. We live in a world of half truths, We live in a world of fake news and deep fake and false Christian teachers. I mean, how many false Christian teachers are there? There's thousands of them, isn't there? You know, you gotta go on YouTube, and there's a it's a billion of them, isn't there?

Well, John says, reject them. Don't walk with them. If anyone comes to you that does not bring this teaching, the teaching of Jesus, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes some shares in their wickedness. Now it sounds like tough rejection, doesn't it?

But if you think about it, false teachers do so much harm that actually we can't just welcome them. Yeah? I mean, imagining the area of nursing and NHS, if you had false doctors and false nurses. We've seen we've seen what goes on with the trial of you know, Lucy letby. You know, if they're doing wrong things, it's deadly, isn't it?

We we see it in the area of cladding, don't we? On high rise flats. If they put wrong cladding up, cladding that's made of petrol, you'd think anyone would know not to put that up. But if they put this that's basically made of petroleum, it's obvious what's going to happen, isn't it? False teachers have massive consequences on us in every area.

So why not in this area? False engineers, false doctors, false teachers. It's a disaster. So don't just fudge it by saying, but we must love all people. No.

You love the people in the truth. You see that? In the first century, they've they, the there there was found I I don't know when it was found. It wasn't too long ago, the Ditticat. Did how'd you say it?

Didicay. Which which was a sort of first century document, not in the Bible, but was how to run churches. I love this. This this is what it's I mean, you apply this to a lot of, TV evangelists. This is a let every apostle that comes to you be received as the lord.

So imagine John is saying this to lay the elector. Let every apostle come to you to be received as the lord. But he shall not remain except 1 day. But if there, be need, also the next so if someone a traveling preacher comes, You're gonna know whether they're genuine or not. Let them stay 1 day.

If need be, let them stay 2. But if he remains 3 days, he's a false prophet. Cause he's sponging off you. Listen. Listen.

And when the apostle goes away, so after the second day if he goes away, let him take nothing but bread. So you can give him some bread, but not lodgings. If he wants lodgings, he has to work. Yeah? Then it goes oh, listen to this.

If he asks for money, he is a false prophet. That's so good, isn't it? That should go up on all YouTube things, shouldn't it, of TV evangelists? If he asks for money, false profit it's brilliant, isn't it? There are so many people sponging the church and Christians and asking for money, and they're not working for their money.

Be careful. They're destructive. So my conclusion, then I'll finish. Sorry. It's been so long.

Walk in the truth, walk in truth, love, and obedience, but walk. Keep going. Keep walking. And, not like a cat. Cats walk alone, don't they?

Christianity and cats, they don't go together. You there's no cats in the Bible other than a lion. I know that and leopards and things, but no these domestic things. So cats, they walk alone. That is not a Christian.

When you look at a cat, you say you are not a Christian. They come in. They do their litter in the corner. You feed them. They shove off.

They might let you stroke them if they want to, but it's up to them. Christians are not cats. Okay? We are to walk together, not alone. We walk together in truth, love and obedience.

You can't do it alone. The walking group that we have in the church is is it's just a very wonderful thing. We do it once a month. And it's just lovely walking with Christians, isn't it? Chris?

And we did it, yesterday, 4 mile walk, and you just chat. That's the Christian life. No cats. You wouldn't ever take a cat. You might take a dog, but you'd never take a cat on the walking group.

Right? And as you walk, you tell stories. You find out things. My young is such I love walking with my young. She's a North Korean.

She escaped from North Korea. Every time I walk with her, I hear another story from her. This time, why were her teeth smashed out? A cow did it with a big cow horn. It smashed into her.

And when she was 9, she had no front teeth. Until she was 14, she had no front teeth from 9 to 14. And then she told me that No other young person was allowed to play with her when she was North Korea because she was a undercast. No 1 she only had to play with sheep and animals. And that's why she was playing with a cow and it smashed her teeth out.

And as she told me this, I loved her. I loved her. I just love that woman. Because she's so full of joy. Because the next sentence is and this is what she said.

I came to Cornerstone, and I found love. I found love. And it changed my life, and she's so vibrant and full of joy. Her dad was murdered when she was 6. She wasn't allowed to play with children.

Her teeth were knocked out. I hate the lies of North Korea. I hate it, and I love her in the truth. And it's just a beautiful thing as we walk together, we tell the gospel, we tell our story, we are recreated. We're made in Christ as we tell the gospel story.

This is what I've been trying to do today as I tell the story of to John, this wonderful picture of Lady Electric, may be Martha that saw her brother rise from the dead and still continuing on loving children that were aborted and bringing them into the family and telling the gospel. As you tell these stories, as you look at the truth of Christ, you love Christ You love as you walk together. That's the church. That's fellowship. And therefore, we expel the deceiver who would come in and try to mess that up.

Let's pray. Father, you know each 1 of us here? Help us. It's a walking truth, love and obedience, that we may grow ourselves and each other, that we may be the real people in Christ that you've designed us to be, help us to hear the stories of the gospel. And understand what you've done for us and for each other.

We pray these things in Jesus' name, our, ma'am.