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We need to speak. the truth and love.
So if I see something in a fellow Christian's life that is harmful to them or dragging them down, the Bible tells me I should speak. The truth in love. The truth is always the best medicine. But Pastor Greg Laurie points out it needs to be dispensed in a compassionate way. Truth anchors us, but love.
Moves us. Truth gives us the message. Love gives us the That's it. When the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning.
Amazing grace has greeted the sound. Again, you hear all the angels are singing. This is the day, the day will lie in. How do you pass along the cold, hard truth? in a warm and loving way.
Is it in the words we choose? the body language we present? the context in which it's expressed. Yes, yes, and yes. But more than that, today Pastor Greg Laurie points out it comes from a heart of genuine compassion and concern.
energized by God's love. Today, you're on a new beginning. Pastor Greg begins the final message in his series in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. Have you ever sent an email in anger? Maybe you were upset with a co-worker or even your boss.
So you wrote them this email. And you were so angry, you were pounding the keys, you know, just, and then you hit send, you felt really good about it for about five minutes, and the adrenaline wore off, and you thought, what have I done? And you found yourself Googling, how do I get my email back? It's not a good thing. Or maybe you wrote a card or a note to someone, and then you thought of something that you forgot to say.
So on the bottom, you wrote, P. P.S. Postscript.
Well, that's really what we're looking at here in 2nd and 3rd John. These are short little epistles, each one is one chapter long. They're about the length of an email or a note, if you will. And so really, John is concluding this beautiful book of 1 John with these extra letters, and he's effectively saying, P.S., I love you. Reminds you of a story of a young man.
Whose father had died, and he was going through his dad's belongings, and he came across. an envelope addressed to him that his dad had never sent, with a letter in it. And at the end of it, it said from his father, P.S., I love you. And the son carried this route with him because when he would get discouraged and down, He would pull out that letter from his dad that said, P.S. I love you.
Well, here we're being reminded of God's love for us. and the epistles of 2 and 3rd John. John was writing to refute something called Gnosticism that had gained traction. And the Gnostics believed that they had the secret knowledge about God. And they were saying, don't listen to these apostles, listen to us.
They didn't believe that Jesus was an actual physical person walking the earth. They thought he was more like a phantom. In fact, they even said when he would walk along the sand, you would not see any footprints. And John's saying, that's so lame. This is what you need to believe if you're really a believer.
He says in 1 John 4, 2, if a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person is the Spirit of God. In other words, John is saying, no, you have to believe that Jesus was actually. God walking among us. God became a man. Man cannot become God, but God in this instance became a man, fully God.
And fully men. Dying on a cross and bodily rising again from the dead, and born of the Virgin Mary. You need to believe all of these things to be a real Christian.
So now we come to 2 John. Starting in verse 1, he writes: The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth. And not only I, but also all those who have known the truth because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, and peace be with you all from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I want you to underline those words, in truth and love.
God wants us to walk in truth and love. You really can't have one without the other. In fact, in the first four verses of this short letter, John uses the word truth. Five times. You know, sometimes you meet people who walk in truth, but not in love.
And I'm going to use the word truth loosely there. I'm going to say they walk in their version of the truth. There are people that tend to be nitpicky. You know, they cross their T's, they dot their I's, they can often be legalistic, they call it truth. But they use it sort of like a sledgehammer.
You need to walk in love as well. These are the kind of people where, if you're having a great burger, they'll come and quote a Bible verse to ruin it. You're taking your first bite and they'll say love not the world neither the things that are in the world For if any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world. Oh.
Or you say, hey, I'm redecorating my front room. It's all going to burn. Really? But they call that the truth. It's not truth.
It's just their weird way of trying to live by truth. But then we want to live in love.
Now, sometimes people who say they live in love. My, I don't want to say you can be too loving. But you can become too tolerant of everything. In the name of being inclusive and kind and never wanting to appear judgmental, they'll never tell the truth to someone else. Uh let's take a doctor as an example.
Let's say you went to your doctor for an exam. And he found something that concerned him.
Now, He wants to tell you the truth. He wants to be loving about it.
So in the best way he can think of, He has to tell you what your problem is.
So he can tell you what the solution is. And if that doctor told you you were perfectly fine when you had a problem. That doctor is not doing his job.
So, if I see something in a fellow Christian's life that is harmful to them or Dragging them down. The Bible tells me I should speak. The truth in love. It comes down to this, truth anchors us, but love moves us. Truth gives us the message, love gives us the method.
We need to speak the truth in love. And the perfect example of this is Jesus. He was a personification of truth. He said, I am the way the truth. truth in the life.
Remember that woman caught in the act of adultery. thrown at his feet. Her accuser says, the law says she should be stoned. What do you say? It was a trap, of course.
And Jesus looked around at them and the Bible says he stooped down and rode on the sand. And then he stood up and said, let him that is without sin among you cast the first stone. And they left, the Bible says, from the oldest to the youngest. Then he turns to the woman and says, Lady Where are your accusers? She said, I have none, Lord.
He says, neither do I accuse you. Go and sin no more. I love the fact that he called her lady. I think she had been called a lot of things, but probably never lady. He used a proper term to address a woman, a woman of respect.
Almost like saying ma'am. Ma'am, lady, where are your accusers? Why did he say that? Because he didn't just see her for what she was, he saw her for what she could become. You see, he saw a lady down the road, but then he says this.
Go and sin no more. So the love was engaging her. And welcoming her, but the truth was in telling her to go and sin no more. Love is obeying the Lord. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments.
A husband can say to his wife all day long, I love you. By the way, Husbands. Do you tell your wife you love them? Oh, let's make you do it in church. I love to do stuff like this.
Husbands, turn to your wife. And repeat this after me. Greg is an amazing preacher. No, no. Turn to your wife and say, I love you.
Go ahead. Turn to your wife and say, I love you. That wasn't that hard, was it?
Now women, you turn to your husband and say, I know. But it's a good thing to verbalize your love. Both the husband to the wife. and the wife to the husband. It's a nice thing to bring her gifts.
It's a great thing to compliment them. But guys, you need to do your job too. You need to provide for her. You need to protect her. You need to be a spiritual leader in the home, and most importantly, you need to be faithful to her.
And she needs to be faithful to you.
So you can have all the compliments. And you could be telling the person you love them over and over, but if you're unfaithful to them, it kind of. undermines it.
So in the same way, If we love God, we should be faithful to Him. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hey everyone, I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a harvest version of Netflix. We have all of our resources in one place.
We have our movies like Steve McQueen, The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Casher, Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and much more. Then we have our television program, daily devotions, and much more.
So go and download the Harvest Plus app.
Well, we're glad you're along today for Pastor Greg's message called P.S. I Love You. from the book of Second John. Let's continue. Point number two, when we walk in the truth.
And love people, the devil will be opposing us. Look at verse 7. For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Christ. It's coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver, an antichrist.
Look to yourselves that you don't lose the things we work for. but that we may receive a full reward. The Bible tells us that in the end times Someone will emerge on the scene called the Antichrist. That person has not yet appeared. We don't know who he is, nor do I think we should sit around and try to figure out who he is.
Because in fact, the Bible does not tell us to look for Antichrist, it tells us to look for Jesus Christ. And to the point, I don't even think Antichrist can be revealed until the church is caught up to meet the Lord in the air and what we call the rapture of the church. The Bible says, he who now restrains Will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way. And then that wicked one, speaking of Antichrist, will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy with the brightness of his coming.
So, what he's saying is the restraining force in the world today is the Holy Spirit working through the church. And when that work is done and we're caught up to meet the Lord, then Antichrist will be revealed. Yes, and the Antichrist is coming, but then he talks about Antichrists. And this is plural. And don't forget the prefix anti doesn't just mean against, it also means instead of.
So he's saying in the end times there's going to be imitations of Christ. Or things that will take the place of Christ, or people pretending to be followers of Christ who are not. indeed followers of Christ.
Now we shift gears to 3 John. And John addresses this to a guy named Gaius. It's assumed that he probably led Gaius to the Lord.
So he was like a spiritual son of the faith.
So now in 3 John Chapter 1. Verse 2. I'm riding to Gaius, my dear friend. whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health.
Just as your soul prospers. That's a great verse, isn't it? Great thing to pray for someone.
Now there is um A theology in the church today. That's sometimes called prosperity theology. Our word faith theology, as it's sometimes described. And the basic premise of it is that we can claim things for ourselves. You know, you claim things by faith.
They say that faith is like a force that must be harnessed, and you speak things into existence, and you only want to have a positive confession, never a negative one. And God wants you to be in perfect health. And if you find yourself sick, it's because you lack faith. And God wants you to always be financially prosperous. And if you aren't, it's because you lack faith.
So you name it and you claim it. Or you gab it and you grab it.
So Word faith theology, of course, I think is contrary to scripture. But they'll often cite this verse, verse 2. I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health as your soul prospers.
Now, look. God does want. To give us prosperity, we don't have to be afraid. of the word prosperity just because some have misinterpreted it. Because it is used in the Bible.
in a positive way. In Psalm 1, it says, Blessed is the man that doesn't walk in the council of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful. His delight is in the word of the Lord, and in it does he meditate day and night. He'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. His leaves shall not wither, and whatsoever he does shall prosper.
So God can and will prosper a believer, but we have to ask the question. What is prosperity? Could you prosper with good health? And abundant finances? Absolutely.
Could your version of prosperity be a little different and it might include some sickness that God allows for some reason? To keep you dependent upon him, and maybe a financial challenge that will cause you to call upon him? Again, the answer is yes. To prosper is to become more like Jesus.
So there are people who are wealthy and blessed by God. In both the Old and New Testament, Abraham is described as being very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. Job was blessed with great wealth. He was the greatest of all the people in the East. The list goes on, Solomon Boaz.
Joseph of Armathea in the New Testament, Lydia also in the New Testament.
So God can bless you with wealth.
So there's nothing wrong with being wealthy. It's a blessing to have wealth, but with that wealth comes responsibility. Paul tells us of 1 Timothy 6, 17. Tell those who are rich, don't be proud. Don't trust in their money.
Instead, trust God. Thank Him for His provision. And use what they have, use their money for good to help those in need. Paul didn't say condemn those who are wealthy and say, how dare you be wealthy? He says, no, commend them, exhort them, encourage them, and tell them that there is a stewardship that comes with that.
Coming back to Job, he had all this great wealth. But God allowed a series of calamities to come into his life. And ultimately, he said the result was he came forth as God. Gold.
So it all comes down to how we define prosperity. But then there's good health. Verse 2, pray that you may prosper. and be in good health as your soul prospers. God wants you to be in good health.
God can bless you with good health. You should do everything to to live a healthy life. You know, I think sometimes some Christians like to quote the passage that says Uh bodily exercise profits little. But godliness is good for all things as they eat their twentieth donut. Godly exercise may profit little, but it does profit some.
So we should use that to justify laziness or letting our body go because your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
So, does God always want us to be in good health?
Well, Sometimes yes, and there are times he'll allow sickness in our life. Um It's a great thing to ask God to heal you. And if you're sick, do pray for healing. And the Bible even says if there's any sick among you, Call for the elders of the church to come and pray for you and anoint you with oil. And the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man will accomplish much.
And I can tell you, we have prayed over people in this church and we've seen them miraculously healed by God. But does God heal everybody? The answer is no, He doesn't. I wish He did, but He doesn't. We should ask.
We can even ask repeatedly, but sometimes he allows sicknesses for a greater purpose. The Apostle Paul had what he called a thorn in the flesh. Three times he asked the Lord to take it away, and God said, my grace is sufficient for you. And this is the Apostle Paul who prayed for people to be healed and even raised some guy from the dead.
So, if God wanted everyone healed, certainly Paul could have prayed for himself and been healed. And some will say, well, it's your lack of faith if you're not healed.
Well, God does use faith in our healing. But sometimes we are deficient in our faith. Like, how much faith did Lazarus have when Jesus raised him from the dead? Not a lot, because he was dead. But then we have the instance where there was a woman with a medical condition, and she said, If I can touch the hem of his garment, I'll be healed.
And she did, and she was healed. But then there's a story of. Jairus, whose daughter was sick. And he had the faith for his daughter.
So sometimes it's the faith of the person praying.
Sometimes it's a person praying for that person. And other times it's just the Lord stepping in. I like the prayer of that one guy who said, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. We should pray for his prosperity. in our life as he defines prosperity.
Good clarification from Pastor Greg Laurie today from our studies in 2 and 3 John here on A New Beginning. And there's more to come in this message. You know, there's nothing that could bring more richness to our lives than to have a personal relationship with Christ, to know your sins have been forgiven, that you're a child of God. and ye'll live forever in the presence of the Lord. Do you have that reassurance?
You know, you can. Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person who would like to make that change right now? What I would say is He is only a prayer wang. Which means if you will call upon the name of the Lord right now through prayer, He will hear your prayer and answer your prayer. Listen, if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you want Him to forgive you of your sin, If you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, just pray this prayer right now after me.
Just pray, Lord Jesus. I know that I'm a sinner. But I know that you're the Saviour. who died on the cross for my sin, and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now.
and I choose to follow you. From this moment forward as my Saviour and Lord, as my God and my friend, In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed along with Pastor Gregg and meant those words sincerely.
We want to welcome you into God's family. and we want to help you get started in your new faith. Pastor Greg wants to send you his New Believer's Bible free of charge, along with some other helpful resources. Just let us know you prayed with Pastor Gregg and that you want the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.
Or go online to harvest.org. and click the words No God. And then, thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue. Your investments have eternal benefits. Why not make this a part of your personal ministry, to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the gospel of Jesus Christ?
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Well, next time, more insights from Pastor Greg's Unshakable series. as we dig into the short epistles of 2 and 3 John. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is a day, the day when life begins.
