2 John 1:7-13

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.  Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.  Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.  Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.  The children of your elect sister greet you.

The hope of the Gospel and the fellowship of believers are blessings of inestimable value.  It is to be expected that these blessings would come under the attack of Satan.  He will do all in his limited but significant power to confound our hope and infiltrate our fellowship.  We must be prepared and respond appropriately.

THE REALITY OF DECEIVERS: John warns us of the fact that there are deceivers and that they are plentiful.  They go out into the world and they strive to infiltrate the church and have the goal of deceiving the world into believing their false teachings.  Their primary tactic is to deny the coming of Jesus Christ.  There are basically two ways to deny Christ.  One way is to deny that Jesus was God and claim that He was only a man who had a great following and was an example of a moral teacher.  The other way is to deny that He was human and that he was some sort of spirit that just appeared as a man.  Both of these positions are wrong and false teachings that must be rejected as the deny the person of Christ.

THE REWARD OF FAITHFULNESS: We must be ever on the alert to watch ourselves so we are not deceived by this false teaching.  Believers in John’s day had sacrificed a great deal to follow Christ and enter into the fellowship of the church.  They gladly faced these trials because they were convicted of the truth of the Gospel and had great hope that they would be rewarded with an eternal hope and reward.  Our response to false teaching will have a direct impact on our eternal rewards.  We are called to believe and stand firm in the truth.  God rewards those who stand in defense of the faith.

THE REJECTION OF CHRIST: Anyone who denies the deity or the humanity of Christ is rejecting Christ and does not have God in their lives.  False teachers had denied the Trinity and have no relationship with the Father or the Son.  The Father and the Son are one and you cannot deny one without the other.  If we abide in the truth, we prove that we have a genuine relationship with both the Father and the Son.

THE REACTION OF BELIEVERS: Christians are called to love one another, abide in the truth, and show hospitality to one another.  However, when false teachers come into our homes, we become complicit in their deception.  John instructs the body of true believers not to open their homes to host false teachers.  We can and should be hospitable to our brothers in Christ as well as to unbelievers we want to serve and reach.  However, those who pretend to be Christians but deny Christ and are seeking to deceive the flock.  When we host false teachers it makes it look like we agree with their message.  

APPLICATION: Be aware of the existence of false teachers and the likelihood that we will need to face them at some point in time.  Affirm both the deity and humanity of the incarnate Christ.  Hope in the eternal rewards associated with defending the truth.  Don’t receive or cooperate with false teachers.