Join us on the Bible Bus journey as we delve into the teachings of 2 John, a New Testament book that offers timeless counsel on balancing truth and love. Dr. J. Vernon McGee guides us through the Apostle John’s warnings against extreme interpretations of faith that lead to either liberalism or fundamentalism. Discover how John’s message speaks to us about loving one another while being vigilant against false teachings that compromise the truth of Christ’s doctrine.
of foundation ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith
SPEAKER 03 :
The Bible Bus, well, it’s on the road again as we journey through the small and mighty New Testament book of 2 John. So welcome to Through the Bible. Now, as we travel along, Dr. J. Vernon McGee is going to remind us of the dangers of extremes. And we know all about them in politics, don’t we? But, you know, the same is true for those in the faith. Some Christians practice extreme liberalism as they interact with the world, and others believe that strict fundamentalism is the only way. Well, the Apostle John warned his first readers of these tendencies, and his practical counsel is still relevant for each of us. So how do godly people live in this world? Well, I’m Steve Schwetz welcoming you aboard the Bible Bus, and we’re going to turn our attention to this important discussion. So as you find your seat, let’s welcome Greg Harris, who’s here with a quick update on Through the Bible’s ministry. So Greg, where are we going to go today?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, we’re going to go to Africa because the ministry, I think the right word is it’s exploding.
SPEAKER 03 :
Africa is on fire.
SPEAKER 02 :
On fire, yeah. And we love Africa. More than 50 countries, more than a billion souls live in Africa. It’s just an amazing continent. And we’ve always had great ministry there.
SPEAKER 03 :
But we’ve seen a real resurgence.
SPEAKER 02 :
Exactly. And you’ve been part of that. So let’s go to Liberia, a place that you’ve been and I have not been.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, a very difficult place just to live. I traveled with Ray Allery, who had spent 18 years in Africa, and he said Liberia was behind the first year that he showed up in Africa in terms of it’s just progress, Internet. Yes, they have it, but it stops working at about 3 a.m. in the morning when three people get on. I mean, it’s a hard place to be. But with that, we’ve partnered with someone that came to us as a result of a listener, this program, yeah, hearing us talk about testimonies and stuff. Long story short, basically, a radio station got formed, which I was in the meetings when they were the genesis of it. And I’m sitting in that meeting going, you guys aren’t going to be able to pull this off. This is Africa. It’s six hours away. You’re talking about covering three countries. It’s not going to happen. Let’s just do the first things first, and then we’ll deal with this in a year or so. made me look like oh man of little faith because they are now on the air in the kissy language going to liberia the country of guinea and sierra leone i mean just it’s incredible and and through the bible helped fund part of that but there are other ministries and and partners coming alongside with that and i am confident that we’re going to see significant fruit from this ministry using in this part of the world makes perfect sense terrestrial radio and old school technology and if there’s one continent that that works in still yes that’s africa absolutely and uh… and it’s such an incredible story because as you said
SPEAKER 02 :
This listener who lives in Nevada, who’s become a friend of ours, and who actually traveled with you. He did. He was on that trip.
SPEAKER 03 :
He was in that meeting, trying to get that radio station going.
SPEAKER 02 :
And I’m like, it’s not going to happen. Exactly. So we know who to listen to. I’m just kidding. We all fall prey to that, and God likes to surprise us. But what I want to point out is this started with… this one man in Nevada hearing you and me talk about ministry development and saying, maybe I could connect through the Bible with this ministry in Liberia. We sent one player. Many of you have heard this story because we’re not, we don’t just start giving stuff away. We want to see if there’s a real need. One player went to 200, then it went to a thousand. You had that experience of, you called like a stampede of folks that were coming.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. Just hearing, just dealing with talking to some young kids outside and then hearing all this running behind me and seeing the Probably 75 women run across towards where I knew my two friends, Dave Dunmore and Ray Allery were. And they had gotten a rumor had spread that they were going to be handing out radio players.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes.
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And it just it turned into a stampede.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, but we didn’t start with the idea of starting a radio station, but that came out of those meetings, and a couple of amazing things happened along with that. One is that the president of Liberia sent a video and says, I want to thank through the Bible for coming to Liberia. The other is that the man you probably met named Joseph, who is the manager of this station, I watched the video with him. About two weeks later, I was at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention receiving an award on behalf Yeah, I was in the room. Afterwards, this man walked up to me and I thought, I know this man. I know his face. It was Joseph from Liberia coming to just greet us personally. So God has amazing plans that are so far beyond what we could imagine. And that’s what’s new. But in another way, it’s not new at all because he does it all the time.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, absolutely. Greg, let me pray for us as we begin our study. Heavenly Father, we are so encouraged. So encouraged by the way you are moving around the world and choosing to use Through the Bible to accomplish so much for your glory and for our good. I pray that you would continue to bless the ministries that goes out in Liberia, in all of Africa, and in all of the world. In Jesus’ name, amen. So let’s dive into 2 John on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now friends, last time we were looking at the two words, that John, in his second epistle, emphasized. One, of course, is the word truth. And that has to do with love also. Love in the truth. And as we said before, that these two words, actually, they are welded together in the person of Christ. He’s the epitome of both. He is the truth. And he is God and God is love. Therefore, he is love. Therefore, we have these two words. And as we spoke last time, that sound doctrine is all important. In fact, when we get to the third epistle, John’s going to startle you in that third epistle. And well, he’s going to startle you here in the second epistle. He’s going to tell us that We are not even to entertain a false teacher. We’re not to have fellowship with them at all. Now, that’s fine and well and good enough. I’m sure that most of you who listen to this program would be called conservative. I do hear from several liberals that listen to us, and I don’t know why, but they do. And they write us, very frankly, rather unusual letters. And we’re delighted that they listen. But I’m very candid to say that the jungle today of liberalism is a dangerous jungle to walk in. Now, there’s the other side of the pathway that you and I as Christians walk today. And on the other side is the wilderness of extreme fundamentalism. Because there are rattlesnakes out there and other venomous and poisonous creatures creatures. And you have to be very careful. And as we said before, we have learned over the years that God’s men today who stand for the truth and preach the truth of God I’ve found, by and large, a man you can depend upon. As I said last time, and I want to repeat it again, these men, I’ve never heard them attempt to separate brethren. I’ve never heard them try to wreck or ruin the ministry of another brother. at all. And I have found them, by and large, men could be depended upon. And they were men that were very gracious in their manner. I remember hearing this story of the late Dr. Harry Ironside. He was holding a conference in one of these conference centers. And you know a great many people, as I’ve heard him say, they go to these summer conferences for just one purpose, to compare one speaker to the other speaker and to try to set up some sort of a conflict. And he said that this man came to him one day, and at least I heard this. He did not tell this to me at all. I heard it about Dr. Ironside when I went to a certain conference myself. And I found there that they attempted to compare you with the last speaker and Then the next speaker coming along would be compared to you. That was the way they did it. And that’s a conference that I very seldom go to. They don’t invite me very often if you want to know the truth, because I don’t like that method at all. But anyway, this man came to Dr. Ironside and said to him, Dr. Ironside, Dr. So-and-so, who was here last week, He said so-and-so, and today you said the very opposite. Now, which is correct? Now, it was on a minor point of doctrine. It was nothing that was vital, but it was a difference of opinion, as all of us have differences of opinion. But we can differ without being disagreeable. And so Dr. Ironside says, well, I didn’t know that Brother So-and-so taught that. He says, that’s quite interesting. He says, maybe I should look into that. I could be wrong. And he walked away. And the brother stood there with his mouth open. because he surely couldn’t get an argument there. May I say to you that I’m confident that Dr. Ironside never felt he was wrong, but he at least shut up the brother and kept him from trying to drive a wedge between brethren. Now, that is the thing that, in my judgment today, is more dangerous, actually, than liberalism is. I can spot a liberal and I can say truthfully that I do not associate with them or fellowship with them. I have nothing in common with them. I’ve been accused falsely by the extreme viewpoint of fundamentalism that I fellowshiped with a certain bishop during a campaign here in Southern California. To tell the truth, I never even met this man. I have no reason to. He and I are in two different businesses all together, and I’ve never even met him. I have no fellowship with that. But I have found out that the most dangerous ones for me are the extreme fundamentalists. And I would say I’m more afraid of them, and I’m afraid of these that are a little different than the fine men who stand for the Word of God in the past and many today. And on the other hand, I’ve met others who prattled pious platitudes and claimed that they had the truth and woe unto the man who disagreed with them on minor matters, especially the matter of separation, as if that was the all-important matter. And their priorities were not doctrine, but assassination of character and name-calling on the lowest level. I have met both ministers and members of churches that I was actually more afraid of than a rattlesnake. The venom of bitterness and jealousy and hatred was dripping from their mouths as they feigned their love and devotion to Christ and to the truth. Therefore, the great message here of 2 John is this. Truth walks in shoe leather. And if it does not, it’s dangerous. It’s dangerous. And we need to be very careful of both sides of the spectrum today of faith. Now, I want us, with that in mind, to come to John’s second epistle. Now, we saw that in the first epistle that he was very strong. We call him the apostle of love. The Lord Jesus called him a son of thunder. And I want to tell you, I think you can add with the thunder a little lightning here in these epistles of John. He made it very clear that as far as a person is concerned, that you have to exhibit love for the brethren or you’re not a child of God. Now, that may lead, you see, to folk today doing extreme things. There are certain ones, as we’ve seen, it’s dangerous to put your arm around them because they may put a knife in your back. And it could be either a liberal or extreme on the other side, an extreme conservative. You find very little love, actually, in either group. Now, with that in mind, let’s come now here to 2 John, and I’m going to read the first verse. And here we are reading, “…the elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth.” Now, This is the part of the introduction to this little epistle. In fact, the introduction here of this little epistle, it takes in the first three verses to tell the truth. And it’s sort of like the tail’s wagging the dog here. Such a long introduction for such a small epistle. But actually, it’s a personal letter. And it’s written by John to the elect lady. The Greek word is electa. And Elector is really a title. It could be the name of the person, for that matter. And the question is often asked, does it refer to a Christian lady in the early church by the name of Elector? Well, it would seem that it was addressed to some lady in the church. or as I prefer to interpret it, speaking now of interpretation, because I’m not clear in my own thinking whether there was a lady by this name in the early church, or whether he is addressing the early church at that time. You must recall that John is the apostle who writes of the family of God. Paul writes of the church of God. And Peter writes of the government of God. And if you keep that in the background of your thinking when you come to these epistles written by these different men, it will help you to understand many things they’re saying. Now, regardless of whether it’s an individual or a church, he is thinking of it in the context of the family of God. They’re in the family of God. Now, apparently there was a woman who was extending hospitality to all those who claimed to be Christian, though some of them were actually heretics. They were denying the deity of Christ. They were denying the great truths of the Christian faith. And John warns here against entertaining such folk. And that actually is the purpose of this little epistle. And it gives now a balanced viewpoint Of the first epistle, this idea of love, love, love today, that you’re to love everybody that comes along, I don’t find that in the Word of God. Now, God so loved the world. But he never asked me to love the world. In fact, I’m told love not the world, but things in the world. And I understand that to be the culture and the civilization, this man-made thing that man has set up in the world today and has come down through the centuries. But I also understand that God is not saying to me, I want you to build up some sort of a sentimental feeling toward the lost. and love them and then bring the gospel to them. God says to me, as we saw in the book of Jonah, God says, I love them. I want you to give the gospel to them. And when you give the gospel to them, then you will learn to love them. That is the thing that is important. And I understand when he’s talking about love. Yeah, I not only understand it, John’s making it very clear. You’re to love the family of God. You’re to love other believers. Now, you’re to love them in the Lord. Now, I think we need to be very careful about that love because a great many of these offshoots today are interpreting agape love as nothing in the world but sex. A lady called me this morning and she’s been saved through the radio ministry. And she said to me, Dr. McGee, I just want you to know I love you. And then she sort of caught herself when she said that. And she says, and I hope you understand, I’m not talking about man and woman love. I’m talking about I love you as a brother in the Lord who led me to Christ. Well, I understand that. And I believe that’s the kind of love that John’s talking about here. Love in the family of God. And that needs to be exhibited today in the church. I think that there are times now for many churches that have built up a reputation of being fundamental in the faith. And I would say that it’s time not exhibit love among the brethren. I would say that I need that in my own life. I’m sure you need that in your own life. There are very few folk that actually question the fact whether I’m fundamental or not. The criticism I hear most in Southern California, they call me an extreme fundamentalist. I don’t think I am, but that’s what many say. That’s what you are. But I don’t worry about that. The thing that I do not worry about it, but I’m concerned about is that we love the brethren. That’s important. But this thing can slop over. We need to recognize that it has boundary in the family of God. Now, who’s in the family of God? Here comes along one of these heretics, as he did in John’s day. He’s apostate. He’s actually antichrist. He denies the deity of Christ. And Gnosticism was coming up then in the church. You see, Peter and Paul were already dead and had been dead 30 years. When John wrote these epistles, Gnosticism was beginning to come in. It actually denied the deity of Christ. Now, John is saying, when one of those fellows comes along, you’re not to extend love to him. You’re not even to entertain him. And that’s very important for us to see. And therefore, the theme of this epistle is for truth’s sake. For truth’s sake. When truth and love come into conflict, this is quite interesting. Truth is that which is the one that is to predominate. It is the one that has top priority. Did you notice that Paul in 1 Corinthians… 13 didn’t say, now abideth faith, hope, truth, and love. He just said, faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. But when truth is brought in, then truth comes first. That’s very important to see. All important to see. In other words, truth is worth contending for, and it is wrong to receive false teachers. Now, that’s the position that I take very definitely. I think that the truth in the Word of God is worth contending for. And when I say truth, I mean that which is basic to the fact that this is the Word of God. No question in my mind about it. And the second thing, the deity of Christ and his work on the cross for us. Now, when I meet a man that’s true on those essentials, then he and I can disagree on non-essentials. I have a very good friend. He’s a Pentecostal preacher. And I played golf with him. And I naturally get into a friendly argument. And I always end up by saying to him, I said, brother, you and I agree on so many things. And I love to hear you talk about the Lord Jesus and talk about his death on the cross. You thrill my heart when you talk as I’ve heard you talk. But I said, brother, I want you to know that you and I disagree on a few points. And I’m going to pray for you because I think you’re wrong. Well, you know, he turns around and says the same thing to me, and we leave each other laughing. And as far as I know, that man has never said an unkind word to me or about me. He’s my brother. I wish he could see it as I do, but it’ll just have to be that way till he gets a little more light. And I want to be patient with him. But I want to tell you, he stands true on the inspiration of Scripture. He stands true on this matter of the deity of Christ. He stands true on the fact that he died for me. Now, when a man does that, he’s my brother. And I can’t escape that. Now, even in this little epistle, I have made a threefold division. And love here is expressed in the boundary of truth in the first six verses. Love in truth. And then verses 7 through 11, it’s life is an expression of the doctrine of Christ. You will express what you’re thinking. And for that reason, action certainly reveals what you’re thinking, what’s in your heart. Now, personal greeting is in the last two verses, 12 and 13. False teachers are not to be received by the Christian, but true teachers are to be received with joy. Now, this makes this very lovely here. And I want to say just one other word before we go off the air today. And it’s relative to another word here. It’s the elder unto the elect lady. Now, the word is presbyteros. And presbyteros is presbyter. It has a twofold meaning. It could mean a senior citizen. It could refer to age. Or it could be a title referring to an office or a minister or a teacher. And candidly, I’m sure that John primarily just calls himself here an elder. Speaking of his office, he doesn’t call himself an apostle. And I think he also infers the fact that he’s now an old man. He’s actually up about 90 years of age in the 90s, approaching 100 when he wrote this epistle. Now, this refers to John here. And now we have that much nailed down in the epistle. The elder, John, unto the elect lady, evidently an outstanding Christian woman who had been entertaining a few of the apostates, the agnostics in the church. And John writes this warning that to love the brethren means not to love heretics at all. So until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 03 :
We’d love to hear what you’re learning as we study God’s Word together, so you can drop us a note in our app, you can send your email to BibleBus at ttb.org, or you know we love those physical letters, so you can write to Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. or in Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. And you can also leave a voicemail anytime at 1-800-65-BIBLE. It would be great to hear your story in your own voice. I’m Steve Sweats, praying that God blesses you until we’re together again.
SPEAKER 04 :
Sin had left the prince unsaved. He washed it white as snow.
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Our story on the Bible Bus today is just one step in a five-year journey through the entire Word of God. Come along for the ride, and you’ll study both the Old Testament and New Testament, discovering God’s great redemption story. Is this your story too?
